Avatar: Endless Waltz
by MontagJ
Summary: Three years after the war's end, the fires of revolution threaten to swallow the world.  It will be up to Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko to measure the cost of "liberty".
1. Beat 1 Overture, Peace

This is my second swing at a post-cannon Avatar fanfic. This may seem odd to most, but I think the core weakness in the first Endless Waltz was a heavy influence by Code Geass. Yes, Code Geass. Long story short, I think the idea behind that was I really loved the concept of Code Geass, but I feel they took it in the wrong direction (I blame Seed Destiny for that!). So I guess I was trying to fix Geass along with write the story Avatar _should have_ been from the start. The other issue is that I underestimated the gravity of the undertaking I had set out on; I was not yet mature enough as a writer to tackle this complex a story. It will be interesting to see if I can find a balance between story, theme, and character, as well as the interplay between narrative and character. I look forward to the challenge.

So what does all this mean to you? Eh, not much. On to the story!

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><p>Blood. I hate blood. Why is that all there ever is in this world? People aren't meant to suffer like this. Are they? No! No, I can't believe that! <strong>I<strong> will be the one to change this world. **I** will be the one to cure this world's ills. Despotism. Fanaticism. Corruption. I will change human nature itself!

This earth was polluted and scared by the hands of man, not some higher being. And it will be remedied by mortal hands. By _my_ hands. It was the hubris of Fire Lord Sozin and the **incompetence** of the Earth Kingdom's noble families that brought a hundred years of meaningless wars down upon our little, blue planet. They were all wrong. They deserved to die. But even after they were all swept away, no one had the will or the strength to rectify those sins. My Fire Nation attacked the world at large for three generations. "What of the natural order?" the people cried. What of it? It is not unification of the nations or liberalism that is to fear. Only death. What was gained by the war? By the Avatar's absence? By the Avatar's return? I put it to you. Our world is impossibly backward. It is the responsibility of every man woman and child to think to the future. Reason is the tool that will build the future.

But that in itself presents me with a grand and terrifying paradox. People **never** make the right choice. Human beings are selfish, stupid creatures. How am I to guide those who don't know to follow? Violence is a tool of those ignorant, backward fools. Those superstitious fanatics who have only just learned to walk upright. My words are lost on them, the enlightened words of the National Assembly are lost to them, but to use force to open their ears and their eyes would only make me a hypocrite. And it would mean rivers of blood. Again.

Zuko. What would you do if you were here? Was it really necessary for you to die? Perhaps. I couldn't keep relying on you forever. But lend me some of your strength if you can. The strength you used to stand against our own homeland's madness. I need that strength. Now more than ever. I'll use all the strength I have to stand against the world, and set it on the right path.

They were all wrong. Ozai, Azulon, Sozin, the Earth Kings, the Avatar. Even Tengo. Even the entire world! So I'll stand against it all. The past, and the present. All to make way for the new future. I'll show them. And I'll guide them into the future if I have to drag them forward, kicking and screaming. I have to do this. I have to do this or the blood will never stop. They said it would stop when the war ended. They were wrong, of course. I told them that. We all did. I was right and they were wrong. That's right. I showed them all that. The whole world. Now people are starting to listen. Not many. Just enough for now. If I can just get a few more to listen. Than a few more. Then a few more, and a few more, and a few more! That's right! I can do it! Only I can do it! No matter the sacrifice, I will do it!

"Sacrifice"? Yes, that's it! Sacrifices will be necessary to bring on the new future. Grave sacrifices must be made. Even if that sacrifice is the blood of those who would threaten the future.

What have I become? I suppose I too am a sacrifice to the future. I can live with that. It's time to change the future!

Akira took brush in hand. Still lost in his whirlwind of thought he began to write his speech. Plucking the best phrases and ideas from his scattered mind he began first draft. It had to be perfect. After all, he was going to change the world. He kept thinking that. Over and over. "Change the world, change the world…" The night dragged on as he wrote draft after draft.

He woke with a start the next morning to a rapping at his door. He had fallen asleep. He cleaned himself up as best he could and answered the door. It was one of his colleagues from the National Assembly. "The meeting is in six hours…"

"I'm aware!" Akira snapped, shutting the door on his friend. He continued to work on his speech until he was finally satisfied with the wording. He was going to change the world in just four and a half hours. After washing up and changing clothes, he practiced his speech. To convince a world already turned on its head that it didn't need a Fire Lord anymore wouldn't be easy.

Two hours left. The new Fire Nation "State's Building" was being prepared for the grand show to come. Akira's closest political allies helped him rehearse the theatrics of his address. The speakers were set perfectly to capture the young man's voice.

Ten minutes. By now they'd all be gathered around the nearest radio. The Avatar, Tengo, Long Feng, the Earth King, and just about everyone else in the world. The meeting had already been underway for more than an hour. Akira steeled his nerves and spoke up, just as he had planned. As he began to speak all but a few representatives were stunned silent. Akira spoke about the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, about royalists and reformists, about the ancient Air Nomads and the new S.E.C. Finally, at the critical moment, Akira's grand ambition was revealed to the world. And, at least in the State's Building, it was met with thunderous applause.

History is about to take a different course once again. This world entrusted to the survivors will see great upheavals. What will be left standing in the revolution's wake? What new things will be built in its place? It's the responsibility of the survivors to decide. The future starts now.

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><p>Now that's much better! This is one hell of a challenge, but I think I created a great "overture" to Endless Waltz. Still a lot of Gundam themes, but that's fine. I hope it's clear the switch in perspective was going from thoughts to a more standard narrative (at least 3rd person is standard for me…). Also this "Akira" person I've introduced is supposed to be modeled after a real person, so I'll see if that turns out alright. I really have no idea how this is going to turn out. Time will tell, I suppose…<p> 


	2. Beat 1 Step 1, For the New World Order

Endless Waltz, chapter one. Didn't get much further than this last time. Let's see how optimistic I can be this time. (I mean as the writer, the story will get pretty depressing at times if I get it right.)

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><p>The world had gone through a time of great upheaval recently. For one hundred years the most powerful nation on Earth, the Fire Nation, had tried to gain mastery over the other three nations through force of arms. An entire civilization was wiped from the Earth in a matter of a few decades, and another pushed to the brink. The two remaining Super Powers, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, battled for global dominance. With the advantage of a more skilled and advanced military, the heavily industrialized Fire Nation won an overwhelming momentum in the war. Winning battle after battle, it appeared that the Fire Nation would win the war, though only after a long and bloody struggle.<p>

The war would define life for many. Warriors and military thinkers became very valuable. Victories and defeats shaped politics. There were new opportunities, the need for factories and the good and bad that came with that. Sadly, as in most wars, civilians were affected the most. Loss of homes, loss of loved ones, loss of their own lives. War was burned into the lives of everyone on earth. The One Hundred Years War, or the Great War, was all there was for most everyone, and the changes it brought crept into the popular consciousness.

The world was left in a sorry state as the war reached its zenith. The Fire Nation was at the gate of the Earth Kingdom capitol, and the one force strong enough to combat the Fire Nation threat, the Avatar, was for some unknown reason, missing. The world's keeper, the Avatar, was discovered by two unassuming children of the isolationist Water Tribe. The Avatar, despite still being only a boy, helped to tip the balance of power in favor of the forces allied against the Fire Nation (that is to say, most of the rest of the world). The Fire Nation did indeed crush the Earth Kingdom, but resistance groups and the Avatar's party were able to later turn back the Fire Nation. During a final battle between the Avatar and the Fire Nation's supreme autocrat, the Fire Lord, the Avatar defeated the Fire Lord in single combat. Simultaneously, the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation capital cities were seized by forces sympathetic to the Avatar. In one shocking stroke, the war was over.

With a new Fire Lord and peace around the bend, the world celebrated an end to chaos. The jubilation didn't last. The immediate problems facing any kind of normalization began roughly eleven months after the end of the war. The Fire Nation had seized territory from the Earth Kingdom all throughout the war. Some areas had been under Fire Nation control for most of the hundred years of the war. This land was not so easily returned. The fact that there was no clear winner to the war (was it the Fire Nation's generosity or their defeat that ended the war after only one loss?) didn't help as skirmishes on the now very unclear border broke out. The Avatar was more than capable of stopping the fights themselves, but the core problem remained an enigma. Furthermore, throughout the year the attacks from the "Ozai Faction" against the tattered and confused Earth Kingdom government antagonized both sides. Ideas smothered under the fires of war began to rise.

It was in the Fire Nation that the groundwork was laid. With a more progressive society, and because most Fire Nation citizens were effectively untouched by the war, started asking questions that had never been asked before. "Why is all the power in the hands of one man?" "Wasn't the war the fault of the Fire Lords, not the Fire Nation's people?" "What _is_ the natural order?" New concepts and new literature began to circulate in the educated classes of the Fire Nation. "Why are the factory owners allowed to work children like slaves?" "Why did my father have to die in the war if we were only going to quit in the end?" It was a desire for rule of law, for representative government, for a constitution. The new Fire Lord, Zuko, didn't quite know what to do. After some time, he decided to try… an "experiment".

Zuko ordered the construction of a new "State's Building" for an experimental new branch of government called the National Assembly. Elections were held before the plaster in the State's Building was dry. At first the Assembly would have no real power, but would function as if it did. Zuko would play along with them to see how practical this democratic government was. If it didn't work, he'd just dissolve the Assembly. If it did work, they'd simply transition to that system with the signing of a document. Though some remained skeptical of the Fire Lord's power, the people were ecstatic with the direction the Fire Nation was taking. Zuko was happy to see his friend Akira join the Assembly. This uncertain institution was at least off to a promising start.

The Earth Kingdom was substantially less happy with the condition of their government. The entire country was in a state of utter chaos. Only the cities of Ba Sing Se and Omashu had any sense of peace or stability. About two years after the war, some of the low ranking nobles outside Ba Sing Se looked to the Fire Nation to see its citizens challenging the past. One wealthy landowner named Hyaki Tengo would see his opportunity. In underground cells, a political movement began to spared and take hold of the population's thoughts and dreams. The "workers' paradise" was born, and Tengo would be its prophet.

The world is changing. Changing faster than anyone can keep up with. Three years have now passed since the Great War ended. How will the Avatar and his friends proceed? What direction will this rapidly changing world take? Will history repeat itself? The flame of war has been quenched, but the embers of revolution threaten to devourer this fragile world. The curtain will rise, and history is about to reach a turning point once again.

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><p>Gundam influence? What Gundam influence?<p>

All kidding aside, this is much better than my first try. I'm much more confident in this than anything from that mess of a first attempt. As it turns out, doing a three part re-release works out perfectly. The first chapter is kind of a literal overture, this is kind of a prologue, and the next part is the first chapter of the narrative proper. Kinda funny how it worked out that way. Also kinda funny that both this and the last chapter have 1,011 words without the A/Ns.


	3. Beat 1 Step 2, In a Time of Peace

Now the hard part. I think I can handle this next step, but don't hold your breath. Wait, why as I talking like anyone cares that much about this?

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><p>Three years ago to the day the war ended. Each year on this day a young group of friends met to celebrate. Aang, Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Mai, and Ty Lee. Aang, the Avatar, was a lively young man with grey eyes and a shaved head. He bore the blue arrow tattoos of an airbending master. Zuko, the current Fire Lord, was an intense man with messy black hair and golden eyes, a family trait. Zuko was immediately recognizable for the burn scar over his left eye. Katara was a darkly completed young woman with brown hair and bright blue eyes. Sokka, Katara's brother, looked like it with the same skin hair and eye color. Toph Bei Fong, arguably the strongest earthbender on the planet, had grown considerably in three years. Though still the shortest in the group, the blind, black-haired girl was no longer dwarfed at least by her friends (most of whom were a few years older). Suki was a warrior from Kyoshi Island and Sokka's girlfriend. Mai was Zuko's wife of but a few months. Despite her dreary attire and pale complexion, Mai's bright hazel eyes shown with life. Ty Lee was anything but dreary. Always wearing bright pink clothes if not in her Kyoshi uniform, Ty Lee was outgoing and cheery, at times to a fault. It was these children that fought to end the madness.<p>

This year the reunion was held in Omashu. Aang and Katara had taken to living there since General Iroh had died almost two years ago. Once everyone had arrived, Aang and Katara made a little announcement.

"Aang and I are engaged," Katara said bashfully.

Everyone congratulated them and celebrated what many of them had been expecting for a while now. Well, Sokka was less apt to cheer. Somehow, in spite of the fact that his sister had been living with Aang since the end of the war, Sokka still managed to be surprised. After the shock wore off he had to decide whether to be furious or ecstatic. He settled on somewhere in the middle and joined the party, which was already underway.

This was a time of rejoicing and reminiscing. Everyone enjoyed each other's company. At some point, the boys gathered together alone. Sokka jumped when the music on the new invention, the "radio", changed suddenly.

"What's the matter Sokka?" Zuko ribbed, "Not scared of a little music, are you?"

"I don't like those 'radio' things," he replied simply.

"But Sokka," Aang cut in, "This invention could help people all over the world talk to and understand each other. And besides, I thought you liked technology."

"Yeah, but I don't get how those stupid things work…" the Water Tribe boy griped.

Zuko laughed. "Oh, that reminds me," he said, getting a little more serious, "I hear you've had some trouble with the Earth Kingdom recently."

"It's not just the Earth Kingdom that's causing the problem," Aang corrected, "It is supposed to be there land after all."

"No, that's not what I mean."

"Huh?"

"Weren't there riots near Ba Sing Se?" Zuko asked, not expecting to have to clarify.

"I heard about that," Sokka agreed, "But I thought those were just rumors."

"No," Zuko assured, "My sources should be reliable."

"Well," Aang said thoughtfully, "I guess since we've spent so much time on the western border, it might have happened without my ever hearing about it…" He sighed. It seemed that every time Aang solved one problem five more would pop up. It was like the universe couldn't get enough of reaffirming how tough the job of the Avatar was. Especially then.

"Sometimes one Avatar isn't enough?" Sokka asked, as if reading his mind.

It took Aang a moment to process the question since he was already lost in his own thoughts. "Uh…? No. That's no excuse. I'll just have to try harder."

Sokka shook his head lightly. "You still have that kid's face," Sokka said, "It makes it easy to forget how mature you've gotten."

"Sokka?"

"I _guess_ I can trust you to look after Katara," he said with a sigh, "I just better not hear that anything bad happens to her…"

Zuko chuckled. "Sokka, you know they've already been living together for three years, right?"

Sokka choked on his drink. Aang and Zuko had a good laugh at Sokka's expense as he coughed from swallowing wrong.

"Sokka, aren't you and Suki living together?" Aang asked playfully.

"Yeah, Sokka," Zuko grinned, joining in. "Now that I think of it, with me already married Aang getting engaged, you'll be the only one who still hasn't tied the knot."

"Wh-well, maybe I'm not ready for that kind of… commitment!" Sokka stammered in his defense.

"Should we tell Suki you said that?" Aang teased.

Sokka groaned in frustration. "I take it back, you're both just as annoying as ever."

They were all able to share a hearty laugh at that. They continued talking, amongst each other and with the girls. They ate, talked, caught up, and reminisced. This was a time to enjoy the fragile peace. Their desire was to live their lives in this elegant simplicity. They knew to enjoy it while it lasted. They knew it could be shattered like glass at a hair's breath.

The reunion usually lasted three days or so. Once it was over Aang and Katara departed Omashu for the walls of Ba Sing Se. The couple had not been to the Earth Kingdom capital since Iroh's passing. Bad blood remained between the Avatar and the "cultural authorities" of Ba Sing Se.

A revolt, Aang thought distastefully as he looked over at Katara, that's all we need… Katara noticed the worried look. She took his hand lovingly to comfort him. She knew her coming along on his duties made him nervous about her safety. She knew that, but he knew she'd never take no for an answer. They smiled at each other. Nothing had ever happened before on their trips to maintain peace, other than the occasional "excitement". Nothing they couldn't handle. But that was no reason to be overconfident. When they landed outside Ba Sing Se, though they didn't know it, they had landed at a crossroads of history.

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><p><strong>Heavy<strong> Gundam influence? What heavy- yeah, you know the rest… (Almost started writing for Amuro instead of Zuko for some odd reason. Darn sleep deprivation.)

After two sleepless nights, it's done. I can release the three part re-launch together on the ninth like I wanted. In other good news you probably don't care about (a la Duel 26 of _Darkness_), _Endless Waltz_ is finally in from the cold. I think I've found its pace, its rhythm, and its direction, AND, I'm now confident in its quality. Well, as confident as a pessimist can get anyway…


	4. Beat 1 Step 3, A Snake's Eyes

In effect, this is the last hurtle for Endless Waltz. If this chapter is successful, I should be able to stop whining like an insecure little twelve-year-old and just write like I do on my other stories sort of.

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><p>From the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, you couldn't have been able to tell what was going on inside the city. Only faint trails of smoke dotting the horizon betrayed the state the city was in. Aang noticed the smoke, but didn't let it worry him. The city's Main South Gate loomed tall over even giant Appa's head. Aang and Katara never saw this weakness in the city's great wall with less than twenty guards in the year plus they had lived there. Today, there were two guards at the base of the wall and not a soul to be seen atop. <em>This<em> couldn't help but worry Aang. From the look on Katara's face, she felt the same.

The couple approached the strangely small guard to gain passage into the city. "I'm the Avatar," Aang said as he approached, "I heard there was trouble in the city. I'd like to see if I can help."

"You heard wrong," one guard said sharply.

"Then you won't mind if we take a look around…" Katara said, trying to shoo the guard aside with a harsh glare.

"No one is permitted to enter or exit the city at this time," the guard reported in a stern and practiced manner.

"But surely the Avatar-" Katara started before the guard cut her off.

"No one," the guard emphasized, "is permitted to enter the city at this time." The guard turned away, a none too subtle way of saying the conversation was over.

Katara and Aang stepped away from the wall with Appa in disbelief. Fortunately, a wall was no obstacle to the Avatar. Going into a city without permission always left a bad taste in Aang's mouth, but sometimes, it had to be done. They moved away from the gate that they had approached and flew over the least populated section of the wall they could find. No need to antagonize the people they were trying to help. The strange part was that almost _all_ of the wall was virtually unpopulated. There was only the bare minimum guard on what was supposed to be the best defended city on earth. Something was definitely wrong. Were all the guards in the city?

As Aang and Katara flew over the farmlands between the outer wall and the first of the inner walls, they noticed some of the land was being taken over by a strange building project. Fields were replaced by strange stone structures. They looked like spikes, angled around forty-five degrees in the direction of the outer wall, but they were hollow and had no point. The base of the structures was open. The other thing to notice was the absence of people. No one was there, not even the farmers. It was just an hour or two past noon! Someone should have been out there! Half way to the city (there were several miles between the outer wall and the city) the teens finally noticed a lone farmer tending one of the enormous fields. They swooped down to speak with him. Maybe he knew what was going on.

The farmer, in the last decade of working age or so, noticed Appa coming in to land on a nearby pathway. The man put down his tools and walked briskly to the bison. "Thank heavens!" he sighed, "The Avatar."

"Do you know what's going on here?" Katara asked the graying farmer.

"Some of the young folk didn't like the way we're treated by the nobles in the upper ring. Said it's unfair that we do all the work an' they live in the lap of luxury," he said. There was subtle urgency in his voice. Not the tone you take with an imminent threat, like an army attacking the outer wall, but still one that deserves immediate attention. "They're hearts' 're in the right place, I feel, but they're goin' about it the wrong way. Not many of us stayed behind. If they don't come back to tend the fields soon, this year's harvest could fail! The whole city could starve!"

"The farmers feel they're being mistreated?" Aang asked.

"'Lotta folks, actually." The farmer scratched his head as he had recalled the events of the last few weeks. "Little while ago, a whole mob came down, recrutin' for this protest they kept goin' on about. Talked to us about a lot of stuff. Wages, 'n taxes, 'n 'civil rights', whatever that means… Anyway, most of the farmers, near all the youngn's gathered up their families and headed off to the city. Said they were going to protest at the foot of the throne of the Earth Kingdom itself!"

"But how would they get into the upper ring?" Katara asked.

"It isn't just the lower ring that's protestin'," the farmer emphasized, "Most are the farmers and the lower ring, but a good number are students and such from the middle ring. And their leader is a **noble** from the upper ring!"

"A noble?" Aang and Katara gasped in unison.

"I had a mind to join 'em myself," the man continued, "He was mighty convincing. I knew leaving our fields, especially now, was putin' the whole city at risk… But what those high-class folk said… It made so much sense. But then I got a look at that noble's eyes."

"His eyes?" Aang asked.

"That boy had a snake's eyes," the farmer said dangerously. He gave the teens a knowing look. "I was in the army before I settled down here," the farmer looked away and paced next to Appa, "I had a commander once send two squads, green as could be, into an old road crossing in the woods alone. I watched from a ways down the road with the rest of our troops. I didn't like it. Something was wrong. When those kids got to the crossroads, they were ambushed by some Fire Nation troops lying in wait. That commander knew about that ambush. He used those kids to lure the enemy out." The story sank in in a few seconds of deafening silence. "That noble and my old commander, they had the same eyes…"

The air was tense. "Do you know the noble's name?" Aang asked, trying to suppress the hesitation in his voice.

"It was…" the man thought for a minute. As he thought, with the subject at least slightly changed, a weight seemed to lift off Aang and Katara. There was something foreboding about the way the old farmer was talking when he talked about this noble's "snake eyes". It came back to him in a flash, "It was Tengo if memory serves. Hyaki Tengo."

"Thank you for your help," Aang bowed politely.

"My pleasure, young man. And see if you can't talk some sense into those young folk 'n get 'em back here."

"We'll do our best!" Aang called back, Appa already being several feet in the air. As the Avatar flew off toward the city, the farmer returned to his fields with optimism. No. "Optimism" was too strong a word…

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><p>So there's kind of a little less Gundam influence, sort of… So… that's a thing.<p>

I was expecting to get to Ba Sing Se this chapter, but I think it works out better this way. I may as well be direct about it since I never get any help anyway. What kind of sense do you get from this chapter? What kind of feeling is there? If you're going to review, (and **don't** just tell me "good chapter, update soon") as much as I appreciate critiques on the mechanics and spelling and such, I'd much prefer more subjective feedback. Of course, this all assumes anyone is reading this. I rather doubt it. (Even when I'm not being pessimistic about my writing, I can still manage to be pessimistic about something else. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go be pessimistic about _that_…)


	5. Beat 1 Step 4, Flash Fire

I find it sort of amusing that Legend of Korra is telling the right story in the most silly, implausible way possible. I think my obsession with this franchise is their uncanny ability to set up a great story and then go in the complete opposite direction. Clearly they have good writers, why can't they tell a good story?

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><p>If the farmlands and the wall were sparsely populated, the lower ring was completely empty. What was worse, Aang and Katara could now hear shouts and sounds of fighting from the upper ring. Aang coaxed as much speed out of Appa as he dared. They passed the lower ring fairly quickly. As they got to the middle ring, they started to make out what was going on.<p>

The smoke was coming from the upper ring. People from all walks of life (outside of nobles) were rushing around on the ground below. Hundreds, perhaps as many as a thousand were injured. Appa landed and without a word, Katara jumped off and ran to the nearest wounded civilian. A well-dressed young man jogged up to Aang as he slid off Appa's head.

"The Avatar!" the man said, "What are you doing here?" The question wasn't hostile, but the speaker was tense.

"Clearly the city is in crisis," Aang said, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"We, the Earth Kingdom citizenry, organized a protest. The Earth King sent the army to disperse us."

"Is the fighting still going on?" Aang asked.

"Yes, of course! We won't stop until the palace walls fall. I don't suppose you'd help us?"

"I won't condone violence," Aang stated, "I need to speak with your leader and the Earth King. I'd like to settle this dispute peacefully."

"I don't think that will be possible."

"Well, I'm going to try," Aang said. He jogged lightly over to Katara to tell him where he was going before he took off on his glider. He made his way toward the upper ring. From the sky he could see an angry mob clashing with the Earth Kingdom army and the Dai Lee. The army had armor, more weapons, and more benders on their side, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. The mass of the two forces clashing would push right to the gate of the palace wall, than back to the wall that separated the middle and upper ring and back again. The fighting was brutal and disorganized. Aang tried to land in between the two forces, but they were two close. There was no space anywhere as the mob smashed en mass against the wall of Earth Kingdom troops.

He flew to the back of the mob and landed in a clear spot. Right away, a lone noble in the group arrived to greet him. "You are Avatar Aang, yes?" the man asked. He had an angular face, and shifty green eyes. He was tall and lean. Despite the chaos around him, the man seemed very clean and pristine. He held himself like a noble and yet he didn't look as out of place among the peasants and students as one would think. People were looking to him as the mass of people moved forward and back.

"That's right," Aang affirmed, "Are you the one in charge here?"

"I suppose you could say that. I am Hyaki Tengo," he said. The farmer was right; Tengo has a snake's eyes.

"I can understand if the people feel mistreated, but violence isn't the answer," Aang told him.

"It's too late for that," Tengo said, "The people are fighting for their lives now. Our peaceful protest has become something more… distasteful."

"You need to stop this from getting any more out of hand," Aang ordered. He opened his glider again. "I'm going to try to get the army to back down as well." Just before he took off, Tengo placed a boney, but strong hand on his shoulder.

"The world is changing, Avatar Aang," Tengo said, almost warned, "The war set events in motion that cannot be stopped. You're going to have to choose a side."

"I'm the Avatar, sir," Aang returned the warning, "I don't choose sides." He shook off Tengo's hand and sped away on his glider. The fighting was only getting more bitter. Aang flew past the wall and all the guards to arrive at the all too familiar palace of the Earth King. Fortunately he didn't have to fight his way there, but that was only because all but a few of the guards were outside the walls and more still were tending to wounded soldiers just inside.

Aang rushed in to the throne room to try to stop the battle. The Earth King was a good man, and Aang knew him. Surely the two of them could quell the fighting. But when Aang arrived, the throne was empty. Long Feng and several other Earth Kingdom nobles around a large table that reminded Aang somewhat of the war table the Fire Nation uses.

"The Avatar?" Long Feng gasped, "How did you get in here?"

"Long Feng?" Aang gasped in return, "How did you get out of jail?"

"Guards!" Long Feng cried, "Capture the Avatar! Don't let him escape!"

Aang wasn't sure why he was surprised when a dozen Dai Lee agents dropped down from the rafters. Nothing else had gone right today. Aang blew them away with an omnidirectional blast of air. "Where is the Earth King?" Aang demanded. Long Feng answered by hurling a bolder at him. Aang easily crushed it with an outstretched fist. Some of the Dai Lee agents had gotten up by then and descended on him. They attacked with their rock gloves. Aang avoided those with his airbending training and returned with a blast or two of fire for each of the attackers. Since they had been jumping through the air, they had no hope of dodging. Aang ran toward Long Feng, but the Dai Lee erected a rock wall to block his path.

Normally, a handful of Dai Lee agents wouldn't be much of a problem, but Aang didn't have the time for this. He blasted his way out of the throne room, literally leaving the Dai Lee agents in the dust. Aang burst out the palace doors and climbed over the battle below. He had every intention to drop himself down in between the two forces with airbending and create some kind of lava filled ravine or something with the Avatar State. But from his high vantage point, he saw something that made him sick to his stomach. A huge unit of Earth Kingdom forces marching toward the middle ring. They weren't here to restore peace. It was more than clear that they were here to put down a rebellion by force.

Aang found Appa and Katara near where they had landed. Aang didn't even give her a chance to ask what was going on before he grabbed her by the arm and lifted her onto Appa's head. "Aang! What's going on?"

"The Earth King wasn't there," Aang said through gasps, "Long Feng was!"

"What?"

"And look," he gestured toward the approaching army.

"We have to warn the protesters," Katara said, "They'll get whipped out!"

"Right!" Appa swooped down so Aang could shout into the crowd. "Everyone! You have to stop fighting! Earth Kingdom soldiers will be coming from the middle ring any moment now! You have to leave!" Nobody even looked up. They kept throwing themselves at the Earth Kingdom soldiers guarding the palace. "Listen! You're all in danger! Stop fighting!"

"Maybe that guy Hyaki Tengo can make them stop," Katara suggested, "He's supposed to be their leader!"

"I met him before, but I don't see him now!" Aang said desperately as he watched the Earth Kingdom soldiers descend on the people in the middle ring. Aang kept trying to get the protesters to stop. No one listened.

* * *

><p>I don't know, I feel like the pacing of the scenes was off for some reason. To quick? I hate to be a broken record, but legitimate constructive criticism would be nice. Hell, I'm not picky, I'd be fine with any kind of legitimate criticism at this point! I need to know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it!<p>

Also, in the nick of time update yet again! Let's hear it for pathological procrastination!


	6. Beat 1 Step 5, A New Plan

I meant to do this sooner, but of course, I procrastinated. The revolution has started and we see how the Earth Kingdom responds. I've always seen a lot of similarities between the EK and Russia, more so than with China as it was intended. That's why I've been going this route. I'm not sure where this next chapter will lead me, but hopefully it'll turn out good.

* * *

><p>Evan after the Earth Kingdom troops started attacking the protesters, Aang still tried to stop the fighting. By that point though, the situation was too far gone. It was hard to tell how many people were hurt and how many were killed. All that was apparent was that the protesters had failed. The palace was still intact and the crowd dispersed.<p>

As the crowd was subdued, some of the earthbenders among the Earth Kingdom troops started taking potshots at Appa, who was hovering over the discomforting scene. Aang had no choice but to pull away from the chaos, though it took more than a little convincing from Katara to get him to give up. Appa climbed high into the safety of the clouds.

Aang was shaking with anger and sadness and confusion and a medley of other emotions brought on by the incident he was unable to stop. "What just happened?" Aang gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"You said Long Feng was in the palace instead of the Earth King, right?" Katara asked, "That might explain the riot. And I wouldn't put it past Long Feng to use the army to disperse protesters like that."

"But what happened to the Earth King?" Aang asked.

"If Long Feng overthrew him again, he might have reopened the prison under Lake Laogi."

"Then that's where we'll go," Aang decided. "But after we find the Earth King, I'm going to have a chat with Long Feng."

"It might be hard to get back into the palace with all those Earth Kingdom troops stationed outside," Katara warned, "It was hard enough to get in the first time we broke in and there weren't half as many soldiers."

"And we don't have Sokka or Toph to help," Aang agreed only half-jokingly. His face grew serious, almost angry, "Still, I can't let Long Feng keep control of Ba Sing Se. Especially not now."

"You're right, of course," Katara sighed irritably. "Sometimes I wish the world would just take care of itself!"

"But then I'd be out of a job," Aang smiled. They both laughed. It didn't last, and not because they had already reached their destination. Unfortunately, when Aang earthbent the old entrance of the Lake Laogi prison to the surface, it was still broken and caved in. "Oh, come on!"

"But if the Earth King isn't here, does that mean he's not even in the city?" Katara wondered out loud.

"There's a chance he's in the palace dungeon," Aang reasoned, "but it's hard to believe Long Feng would put him somewhere so public."

"What if the wall guards didn't let him back in the city when he tried to return? Not many people had seen the Earth King and Long Feng might have already been in control of the city by then."

"Well, now what do we do?" Aang threw his arms up in exasperation, "He could be anywhere in the Earth Kingdom by now. He could be in the colonies too. Or in the Fire Nation for that matter! He could be living in one of the Air Temples for all we know!"

"Calm down, Aang," Katara said comfortingly, "We'll figure something out."

"You're right. At least today can't get any worse…" Right at that moment a small, spike-shaped rock darted at his head. It was nothing to bat it away, but that and the appearance of a half-dozen Dai Lee agents served to severely depress Aang. "Of course."

"Normally that happens to Sokka…" Katara noted.

"You'd think I'd have learned from him." Aang, with a single, simple motion, pulled a part of the nearby cliff side out and batted two of the Dai Lee agents into the lake. Another tried attacking Katara, which was a mistake. With an ample supply of water from the nearby lake, it was easy to cut down the fist-shaped rock hurtling toward her. Another flick of her wrist and the stream of water wrapped around the agent's waist and flung him far across the lake. The other three leapt high into the air as the Dai Lee seem want to do. Apparently, they didn't see the ten ton flying bison standing behind them, because jumping only made it easier for the Appa to blast them too into the lake with a gust from his large, paddle-like tail. Some of the agents were starting to gather themselves to renew their attacks, but Appa had already taken off, the couple in his saddle.

"Okay," Aang said carefully, "_now_ what?"

"It's a long shot," Katara started, "but we could try to retrace the Earth King's steps after he set out on his own. It's a place to start at the very least."

"That's a great idea!" Aang agreed, returning to his usual optimism. "There has to be some kind of trail to follow. Who knows, maybe he started leading a whole bunch of towns and he'll be really easy to find."

"That's the spirit!"

"So where did you drop the Earth King off? What was the name of the town?"

"Uh… I don't remember. I was hoping you did."

"Me? I was unconscious, remember."

"Oh, yeah…" Katara remembered distastefully. She didn't like to think about the time Aang very nearly died after an encounter with Azula, Zuko's evil and possibly insane younger sister.

"Well, I guess there's only one thing to do!" Aang suddenly beamed brightly.

"What's that?" Katara asked, baffled by Aang's sudden joy.

"Get the old team back together!" Aang answered cheerfully. "I'm sure Sokka remembers where you dropped off the Earth King. And we might as well bring Toph in on it while we're at it."

"That's a great idea!" Katara agreed, "Zuko would probably be too busy with his duties as Fire Lord, but getting the old gang back together sounds like fun!"

"It'll be like a working vacation."

"Spirits' know we need one. Let's see if we can catch Sokka before he gets too far from Omashu. He does live pretty far away."

"Good idea." Aang hopped onto Appa's head, happily chirping "Yip, Yip!" Appa sped toward the horizon, the jovial mood giving him speed. As Aang though about what his mission really meant and about the people who had been hurt not an hour earlier, he knew this was not going to be a simple vacation. But even still, he smiled his big, toothy smile. He was sure things were looking up.

* * *

><p>Famous last words.<p>

Incidentally, I learned something that should have been painfully obvious. It's hard for a pessimist to write for an optimist. It sounds dumb to say, but I didn't realize how hard it was to get into character when writing for two of the most happy, glass-half-full characters in this franchise. Huh. That.


	7. Beat 1 Step 6, Widespread

Not procrastinating as bad as usual. I take this as a good sign.

This may or may not send me into a sort of formulaic rhythm for some chapters, for better or worse. Either way, it won't last that long. Just given the type of story this is, it's going to have a very Gundam Wing-ish pace once most of the plot elements take hold and the exposition starts to run out (for better or worse). That doesn't mean this'll look anything like Wing, it'll just have similar pacing in the most general sense. I can't say I didn't expect that, but I find it sort of odd that I'm bumping up against the idea now…

* * *

><p>The late summer sun beat down on Aang as he, Appa, and Katara as they flew south. It was hard to believe the Earth Kingdom could turn on itself like that. Aang couldn't let violence like that go unchecked. The tension in the air lent to Appa's speed and they arrived outside Omashu in just a few days. It wasn't long after that that they caught up with Sokka and Suki heading toward Kyoshi Island. The news of the revolt and the Earth Kingdom's reaction was not well received.<p>

"The army **attacked** them?!" Sokka gasped.

"I tried to stop them, but there were so many people…" Aang admitted, "There was nothing I could do."

"Was anyone killed?" Suki asked carefully. Aang couldn't find his voice, so Katara answered for him.

"It was hard to see much of anything, but I can't imagine that no one was killed…"

"Well, we have to go take down Long Feng again!" Sokka asserted vehemently, "We took him down before and we can do it again!"

"We thought we would go find the Earth King first," Katara explained, "He's the only one who can restore order to the Earth Kingdom."

"Do you remember where you dropped him off, Sokka?" Aang asked, "We figured we could try to follow his trail after he left."

"As a matter of fact, I _do_ remember!" Sokka pulled out his "detective hat and pipe" seemingly out of nowhere. "Inspector Sokka is on the case!"

"Hold on, 'Inspector'," Katara told him dismissively, "We're going to go get Toph first, then get on the Earth King's trail."

"That's great! We're getting the old team back together!" Suki beamed.

"Well, we won't have Zuko with us," Aang noted, "There's too much in the Fire Nation to deal with to go on a quest for the Earth King with us."

Sokka scoffed, "We don't need that hot-head."

"Yeah," Katara agreed, "We've got you to be the team hot-head."

"Yeah, I- Hey!"

The merry band of four made their way west, towards the Bei Fong estate. It wasn't very far, only about a day and a half's travel. They landed outside the town in which their friend Toph lived. Immediately Aang got a sickly feeling. The town was eerily quiet and starkly empty. It was far too reminiscent of Ba Sing Se during the riot. Aang took off on his glider without a word. He saw where the town's population was before long.

The town's folk had surrounded the Bei Fong estate. Fortunately, they didn't seem in the least bit inclined for violence. They did seem angry, though, shouting at the guards at the gate and occasionally throwing rotten fruit at them. Aang landed between the crowd and the nervous guards. "What's going on here?!" he demanded over the shouts. Everyone recognized the Avatar instantly and the noise died down. By the time Katara and the others arrived the silence was deafening. "Well?" Aang asked almost crossly.

Finally one of the crowd spoke up, sheltered from identification by the numbers of the group. "Each one of us works like a dog day in and day out and we still barely make enough to feed our families!" A chores of cheers rose from the crowd.

"Those Bei Fongs never had to work a day in their lives!" It was impossible to tell if that comment came from the same protestor or a different one. It didn't matter though, a chores of cheers rose up again. The words spoken by one were the will of them all.

"It's not fair that all they had to do was be born!"

"What's the matter with all of you?!" Sokka exclaimed from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to the new speaker, the disdain so thick it was palpable. "Have you all forgotten that Toph helped end the war and free the Earth Kingdom?!"

"A war started by rich aristocrats! Not us!" Another, more fervent cheer rose up from that comment.

"And some 'freedom'! Half of your land still belongs to the Fire Nation!"

"We want real freedom! Not more aristocratic political squabbles that end up killing us and not them!"

"And how will threatening the Bei Fongs accomplish that?!" Aang shouted over another round of feverish cheers. A moment passed and there was no answer. After the heat in the air subsided, Aang spoke again. "I know that things haven't gone as smoothly as we all would have liked. But please understand that everyone is working very hard to restore balance to the world. But you can't expect it to happen overnight." The crowd seemed to relax more. After about a minute (that felt more like a few hours) they started to slowly disperse. At first it was just one or two people walking off on their own. Eventually everyone went their own ways. Shopkeepers returned to their storefronts, families returned to their homes.

The guards visibly relaxed and Aang joined his friends. "If only all riots could end like that…"

"Good thing the army didn't show up," Sokka agreed.

"But what they said sounded a lot like what the people in Ba Sing Se said…" Katara couldn't help but notice.

"I guess that feeling is more popular than we thought…"

Deciding not to dwell on that negative note, the four entered the Bei Fong estate. It was the first time Aang, Katara, and Sokka had been in the Bei Fong estate since the war ended. Toph had insisted that her parents had come to an understanding about what had happened when she ran away. That said, it's not like she had invited them over for any social calls since then.

As soon as they entered from the front gate, they heard a familiar voice, "Thanks a million, Twinkle Toes!" Toph ran up to the group, slugging Aang in the arm playfully. "That makes up for one of the ones you owe me!"

"Wait, how many do I owe you?" Aang asked, feigning hurt.

"Oh, don't worry," she grinned back, "I got tabs for all of you."

"How many do I owe you?" Sokka asked, almost seeming to take it seriously.

"Oh, I stopped keeping track a long time ago. You'll never pay me back!"

They all shared a hearty laugh at Sokka expense. Unfortunately, they had to get quickly down to business. And the business at hand was no laughing matter.

* * *

><p>For once I think I got the pacing exactly right. It's a good thing I started ahead, this got a little tough to write in a few places. And before anyone mentions it, I know. I said "dog" instead of some shade of chimera. I couldn't really think of anything off the fly and I felt one of the series chimera would have undercut the drama of the scene.<p>

Another thing of note is it's hard to keep contemporary politics out of some of the finer wording of this story. I'm particularly disappointed about letting myself use the "short attention span" thing. I want to make something PAINFULY clear. **This is not a political engine**! The politics of this story stopped being pertinent in the 1910s. If I get any reviews that smell like contemporary politics, I flag it. I get a PM anything like that, I ban you. I don't mean to be combative, but I don't want to see any nasty trends start. Let's just enjoy some fanfictions on this sight, shall we?


	8. Beat 1 Step 7, Still Fighting

This chapter should probably begin a more familiar pacing for an Avatar story. Whether or not I can pull that off has yet to be seen. I have some degree of control over how long this next portion of the story should last, so opinions that aren't empty compliments would be nice.

* * *

><p>After leaving the Bei Fong estate (this time telling Toph's parents where she was going) they made their way to the inland sea. It was another two days before they reached where they had last seen the Earth King. More than a few times Sokka's impatience got the better of him. He suggested just setting down and "working backwards" toward the sea. He was promptly ignored as was Toph's renewed complaints about flying.<p>

Finally they reached the general area where they had dropped off the Earth King before he set out on his journey with his pet bear Basco. Unfortunately, the area was quite baron with many towns a few miles away. There was a lot of ways that the king could have gone and no way to tell if they were on the right track. Of course, Sokka had "a fool proof plan".

"We can use these!" he said, proudly presenting a scrap of paper with a crudely drawn stick figure and some words scribbled on it.

Katara wasn't as impressed with her brother as he was with himself. "Lost Earth King, Please return to Avatar," she read, with a skeptical tone and a raised eyebrow.

"We don't need fool proof plans," Toph complained, "We need 'Sokka proof' plans."

"Hey!"

"We probably can't go around asking for the Earth King," Aang thought out loud. "After all, there seems to be a lot of anger at the well-to-do these days."

"Than what are we supposed to do?" Suki asked.

"I guess we'll have to look for him the old fashioned way," Katara suggested.

"Well, I suppose we have to start somewhere," Suki sighed. "Hey Toph, where's the nearest town?"

She pointed unceremoniously in a direction behind the others in the group. "The closet town is that way. But it's a straighter path that way. It'd be easier to get there if you were on foot."

"But we've got Appa to fly us there," Sokka reminded her, "We can get everywhere easily."

"But the Earth King couldn't, remember?" Toph emphasized, "He only had Basco to ride. And Basco was a just plain old bear."

"The Earth King's bear was weird. Maybe the thing could fly?" Sokka enquired, though mostly because he was sick of traveling and just wanted to get to the closest town.

"Wait, what kind of bear? 'Just plain old bear'? What does that mean?" Suki asked. It was at that point that the other members of the group remembered that Suki had never met the Earth King or his unusual pet.

"It's just…" Katara started, trying to find the right words. "…It's just a bear."

"Just a Bear?" Suki thought over what that would entail for a moment. Her mind just went blank. "Weird."

"That's what I said," Toph said as she walked slowly toward Appa. "So are we going to go to the close town, or the one that's easy to get too?"

"I say we go to the closer one," Sokka suggested, passing the blind girl on their way to their transportation.

"I'll say the closer one too," Katara agreed, "Basco seemed strong enough to cross rough terrain."

"Sounds good to me," Aang said happily as he airbended himself onto Appa's head. "I've got a good feeling about this, guys! I bet the Earth King is the first person we'll bump into!"

"I just want to put it on record that I think we're going to the wrong place," Toph said as she reached Appa's enormous fluffy side. She was the first one to start toward Appa, but the last one to arrive the ten steps at best. Her earthbending didn't allow her to see the hands being offered to her. She groaned and raised her own hand, allowing her to be quickly pulled up into the saddle and Appa to take off with a low growl.

The village was less than an hour away. The sun had just started its trip towards the horizon when Appa touched down. When the five teens hopped off their sky bison they were met with a nearly empty town. Many of the buildings were in disrepair and some looked like they had been actively smashed or burned.

"What happened here?" Katara asked as she and her friends looked around the sparsely populated streets.

"That's what happens when your village is too small to catch the eye of the aristocrats," an old tired voice said from under the awning of one of the shops. The group turned to see and old, grey-haired couple selling oranges. They smiled at the kids and beckoned them over.

"It looks like this village has been ransacked," Aang said looking around. He turned back to the orange sellers with a sad look, "Hasn't anyone been sent to help you recover from the war?"

"Are you kidding?" the old man scoffed, "We _still_ get raided!"

"Two times a week at least!" the old man's wife added.

"But the war's been over!" Sokka noted, "Both sides have stopped fighting."

"That's part of the problem," the old woman explained.

He husband continued, "In the beginning of the war, the army was cordial. Or so we were told. They didn't ask our village for much and only when they needed it. But as the war turned for the worse, they dropped all pretense and just started taking anything they found useful. And once the Fire Nation got close enough to raid us? Forget it! We haven't had a moment's rest since!"

"You're saying you were raided by your own army?" Suki asked, aghast at the thought. Sadly, the couple nodded in confirmation.

"But wouldn't the raids stop now that the war is over?" Toph asked with a shrug.

"If anything, it's gotten worse."

"Soldiers who decided they weren't done fighting and mercenaries out of work became bandits plaguing our town. It's been miserable!"

"Both armies were ordered to disband," Aang said crossly, brandishing his glider. "If there are soldiers in this area attacking your village, it's my responsibility to stop them."

"Oh, but you can't hope to stop them," the old woman warned, "They're professional killers!"

"And there are benders among them. Powerful benders! You wouldn't stand a chance!" the man added.

Aang looked at them with a comforting smile as he opened his glider. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I can handle them." With that he was off, his flying catching the old couple off guard.

"Are my eyes goin', or did that young fellow just take off into the sky?"

"Well, he is the Avatar," Katara said proudly, before turning to her friends. "Come on, let's follow him." With not another word, the kids were gone from the shop.

"'Avatar'? I think I've heard of that. Isn't it a kind of cake?"

"Oh, I don't know dear. I don't keep up with all those silly fads."

It didn't take long for Aang to find the bandits. They were on their way to raid the town yet again. Aang landed in front of the marching mass of steel and muscle, halting it with his airborne entrance. "Are you the bandits that have been plaguing that village over there?" Aang asked with an authoritative tone and pointing over his shoulder.

"Who in the spirits' name is this supposed to be, boss?" one of the thugs in raggedy Earth Army armor.

One of the men riding a rickshaw shifted and answered. "I think that's supposed to be the Avatar," he chuckled. Most of the thugs were cowed by the idea that Avatar had intercepted them. The two men in the rickshaw seemed amused at best and annoyed at worst. They were both massive, and had the faces of grizzled mercenaries. But they were well dressed and clean, giving a sense of authority about them. They were wearing mandarin collared suits, one red and the other green. The one in green spoke up again, "Go on and kill him, boys. Maybe we can sell his fancy flying stick."

The thugs seemed frightened at the prospect until the one in the red suit rolled his eyes. "It's just one kid! Just do it and be done with it."

More out of fear of their bosses than confidence of victory, the group of bandits attacked. By the time Katara and the others arrived all but four (including the scrawny rickshaw driver and its two occupants) were somewhere on the ground in a crumpled heap. Aang noticed the other thug trying to sneak up behind him, but he decided to ignore him. After all, Katara had already summoned a water whip and was flinging the offender into a tree. "Thanks," Aang smiled sincerely. He didn't really care for this more violent aspect of his job.

"Any time."

"Netsu… Ying…" one of the defeated bandits groaned, "You have to help us…!"

Ying, the one in green rolled his eyes as they both hopped off the rickshaw. "We don't _have_ to clean up your mess," he said before sending the bandit flying into the woods with some simple earthbending. After the crash of branches subsided, he turned his attention to the Avatar. "But we will 'cause it makes us look bad if we don't!"

In an instant the bandit leader duo was on Aang. Fire came from one side, boulders from the other. The two bandit leaders were immensely skilled, which is why they were stunned how easily their impressive attacks were blocked. The fire was dissipated with a half-hearted swat, and the rocks were stopped when Aang caught the largest one in his palm. Ying and Netsu's eyes widened as the boulder crumbled to sand and the Avatar sunk into a bending stance. With blinding speed, Aang launched a pair of fireballs at Ying twice the size and tenfold the speed of Netsu's. Before the fire even made contact, Aang sent a stone pillar from the ground into Netsu's chest. If you blinked, literally, you'd miss it. "Had enough?"

"I sure have!" Netsu snarled as he leapt up and started charging a lightning attack. Aang got into his Lightning Redirection stance just in time. It was a little too close for comfort, but once he caught the attack, it was easy to aim safely away from anyone. Still, he let the blast hit close enough to the feet of Ying and Netsu that it threw them onto their backs again. When they looked up, they saw all their minions, including the rickshaw driver had abandoned them. And the Avatar in a frightening looking fighting stance.

"If I find out you ever raid _any_ villages again, I'll find you," Aang warned. "And next time I'll aim higher!" The second part of the threat was a bluff coming from the pacifist, but they didn't need to know that.

Deciding they had lost the battle, Ying and Netsu ran off, shouting back, "You haven't seen the last of us, Avatar!

"Like we haven't heard that one before!" Katara called after them before checking on Aang to be sure the lightning hadn't hurt him.

"That was amazing!" Sokka gasped.

Aang shrugged, "I've been practicing."

"I'll say," Toph said with a playful slug to the arm, "Your earthbending is almost starting to get as good as mine."

The group shared a laugh at that. "Well, it's good that we stopped the bandits raiding the town, but what about the Earth King?" Suki asked.

"Is he the fellow with that weird bear thing?" the old man from the orange stand asked. Everyone jumped when they noticed the two orange peddlers had somehow snuck up on them.

"Yes, I heard that someone claiming to be the Earth King riding in on a strange bear creature to the town north of here a few years ago." From the look on Toph's face, it was obvious that the old couple were referring to the town she had pointed out. "Maybe you should look for your friend there."

By that point Aang had already used his bison whistle to call Appa. "Thanks for your help."

"Oh, and take this with you," the old woman handed Katara something wrapped up in paper as she climbed up into Appa's saddle.

"What's this?"

"It's a cherry cake. Now remember to get home before dark, or your parents will worry."

"Uhh, sure…" Toph mumbled as Appa flew off into the horizon.

* * *

><p>I really like this. I think this is some of my best work. Also, there's a fun little reference in this chapter. +10 pts. if you can find it. Also, if you've read my other Avatar stories, you might notice a common thread in the way Sokka's plans tend to shape up. That's not on purpose, it just happens. Huh. That.<p>

So what do you think? What are this chapter's strengths? What are its flaws? Expect insults if you give me ass-kissing reviews.


	9. Beat 1 Step 8, Attack

Oh, boy. Did it to myself again. In my defense I've gotten a lot of work done on my upcoming "Ace Combat _Legacy_: The Belkan War" project. And frankly, while I'm still interested in Avatar, it's not exactly in the forefront of my mind right now. Still, this is more than worth doing. So here we go…

* * *

><p>Night had fallen by the time Appa landed in the town the old couple pointed out. Toph was, of course, quick to point out that they would have gotten there hours ago if they had just listened to her in the first place. She was largely ignored.<p>

Unfortunately, the town was rather large. It would be hard to look for the Earth King in such a large, populated place in daylight. At such a late hour it would be nigh impossible. But the good news about the town being so big was that there were many an inn to choose from to stay the night at. Aang found one with a large enough stable for Appa, and the group turned in. Since the end of the war, life had gotten much easier for Aang and his friends. Finally they all had the money to stay in a real inn, rather than having to camp out or rely on the generosity of some friendly local.

The next morning, they checked out and surveyed the town. Unlike the last one, this one seemed to be in fine shape. The stores and buildings were clean and undamaged, the people were smiling and relaxed. It seemed like how any post war town _should_ be. The group decided to spit up and ask around for a strange man with a pet "bear". Basco was pretty unusual, so it shouldn't have been that hard it find his keeper. Indeed, some of the townsfolk did remember the creature wandering into town. Unfortunately, it was three years ago and no one really remembered what became of the stranger and his bear.

"Well, now what?" Toph asked irritably in a cozy diner the group was having lunch in.

"Well, we know more now than we did before," Sokka said scratching his chin. We know the Earth King was here three years ago and that he left sometime soon after that."

"Which doesn't do us much good, since the trail is so old…" Toph continued to gripe.

"Well, I heard from one of the merchants in town that this is a pretty famous trade town," Suki mentioned. "From what I gathered this is one of the main hubs that moves goods in and out of Ba Sing Se. Anything the city can't make itself is brought in through one of about a half dozen main trade routes. And any surplus in the city is sold to the rest of the kingdom on the same lines."

"So if this town is part of a major trade route, than the Earth King probably followed it," Aang thought out loud.

"_Especially_ since we know the Earth King prefers taking the easiest path, rather than the shortest one," Toph emphasized.

"Okay, okay, we get it," Sokka grumbled, "You were right, Toph."

The earthbender smiled, "I didn't say anything about that…" Everyone just rolled their eyes and moved on.

"Still, before we leave this town, I think we should make sure there aren't any more clues here," Katara suggested. It was hard to argue, a trade route wasn't much to go on looking for a king in disguise.

With a more definite path to search, the group decided to spend the rest of the day there. They'd ask around until the shops started to close for the night, turn in themselves and then leave the next morning. The looked around town together as the sun started to make its way back down toward the horizon. In addition to what little more information about the Earth King they could gleam from the townsfolk, they also stocked up on supplies. They had no idea how long they'd be looking for the Earth King or how much camping that would entail. All seemed well… until an explosion rang out near the edge of town.

Aang and company rushed there and were first on the scene. There was an Earth Kingdom Army barracks guarding the main road into town. And now it was engulfed in an inferno. Much of the front of the structure was collapsed, probably by whatever caused the explosion. The structure was far too far gone to save, but the real trouble was that there were still people inside! To make matters worse, the blaze threatened to catch nearby buildings alight. If that happened the entire town would be a smoldering wreck in mere hours.

The door – unfortunately the only way in or out of the building – was filled with rubble and impassable. Being that most of the detritus was stone, it was easy for Toph to flick it out of the way. What she didn't know was that the rubble was what was holding up the other two stories now that the wooden support beams had been burnt away. Her keen senses caught the imminent disaster in time. She reached out with her earthbending and held the crumbling stone together with the force of her own will. But even with all her stunning power, she could only just keep the building together due to her indirect grasp on it. And there was no guarantee that she could hold it for long.

Aang and Katara got straight to work. Using water from a nearby reservoir, they began to fight the fire. Most of the work was done containing it, but there wasn't much they could do about the people trapped inside.

"Aang, if you can make a way in for us, Suki and I can get the soldiers out!" Sokka called.

"On it!" While still dousing the flames with his waterbending, Aang spun and unleashed a blast of air that parted the flames enough to allow safe passage. Sokka and Suki were through the passage and quickly made it up a nearby staircase to try to get the trapped people out.

"Do you think you could be a bit more gentle, Twinkle Toes?" Toph groaned after the air blast, "This isn't as easy as it looks…" That was a telling statement to be sure; Toph looked like she could collapse at any moment.

"Sorry," he said before returning to his waterbending.

Sokka and Suki lead group after group of bewildered soldiers out of the burning deathtrap. Most of the people were rescued in just a few minutes. Still that felt like an eternity for those who were there. "Is that everyone?"Sokka asked one of the survivors.

"I don't see anyone from the first floor. But I don't know how they could have survived the explosion…" Sokka nodded solemnly. "But I don't see the base captain… He was on the battlements last I saw him."

Like clockwork, Aang, all his friends, the rescued soldiers, and the crowd that had gathered saw the base captain appear at the top of the crumbling fort. There was no way Sokka or Suki could get to him in time and no way he would survive the jump. "It's coming down!" Toph warned as the captain took the leap in spite of the risk. While most of the people in the area smartly took cover as the structure came down, Aang leapt forward. He created an air cushion to catch the falling soldier, than created a burrier of stone to block the rubble falling around them. After the heart pounding few seconds it took for the dust to settle, Aang and the captain could be seen unharmed.

After all had calmed down, Aang asked the base captain aside. "Excuse me sir, but what could have caused an explosion like that?"

"Blasting Jelly would be my guess." He noted the look of surprise on Aang's face. "We've been attacked before by protesters. People who claim that it's the military that caused the Hundred Year War. But they've never gone this far."

"But if these people hate violence, then why would they attack you?" Aang asked, bewildered, "It doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't. But some people like to think with their hearts instead of their heads. In any event, it's a good thing you were here, Avatar. My men and I owe you our lives." Aang nodded. He was sad that there were people who lost their lives before he even arrived, but he had long ago learned not to dwell on things he couldn't change. Still, that left the people who caused all the destruction in the first place. Just one more job for a young Avatar.

* * *

><p>This works I think. I'm trying to make sure something happens in every chapter so this doesn't fall into that oh so common fanfic pitfall of it just being the characters just milling around between exposition scenes. Again, if I'm bad at this kind of story structure, I have some control over how long this sort of thing lasts. I can keep this up or get to a more story driven pacing. Give me some <em><strong>real<strong>_ feedback if you care to.


	10. Beat 1 Step 9, The Trade Route Part One

Oh, boy did I back myself into a corner with this one. Endless Waltz isn't really inspiring me right now, so I haven't done anything. This may be a pretty bad chapter, but I'll do my best.

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><p>The trade route that they were supposed to be following wasn't exactly the most clear. The area they were in was heavily forested and the pat was merely worn into the forest floor. Because they'd lose the trail if they flew, they had to walk under the canopy to Appa's chagrin. It was slow going and tiring.<p>

The group stopped for a lunch break in a clearing. For all the feeling that they were hot on the trail of the Earth King, it was hard being optimistic wandering through a forest hoping they were following the right trail. As they ate and chatted, they heard the sound of several ostrich-horses approaching. Aang was the first up to meet whoever was passing by.

A rather large caravan of Earth Kingdom traders, about twenty of them, hauling their wears on three large carts. It was a rather impressive sight. The party had enough to stock a small market for a week.

"Hello, there," Aang popped over cheerily. The group seemed startled by his sudden appearance, and by his approaching friends. When the traders saw that it was a group of _clearly_ harmless kids, they relaxed.

"Hello, son," a middle aged man in the lead smiled. He had expensive-looking green robes and was graying around his temples. "You and your friends should be careful around here," he warned, "There are some dangerous bandits plaguing these woods."

"We can handle ourselves," Sokka assured. He looked at the impressive haul and whistled. "You've got quite a lot of stuff there…"

"And all at great prices!" one of the traders piped up.

Their leader spoke up again, "Many merchants traveling through this area have taken to moving in large groups to discourage bandits."

"Does that work?" Toph asked bluntly.

"It's better than being alone…"

Suki smiled, "Well than it's your lucky day! You can travel with us."

"There's not a bandit in the world that can handle us," Toph added.

"You just seem so young…"

"Wait," one of the merchants spoke up, "I know you." The twenty something year old hopped off one of the wagons. The young man walked right up to Aang next to the caravan leader, "You're the Avatar. I saw your battle with the Fire Lord! Well, a little part of it…"

Aang shifted bashfully. It didn't matter how much he was praised for his exploits, he'd never get used to it. "Well, we were looking for someone along this trade route, so we'd be happy to travel with you for a while."

"And we can get rid of the bandits along the way," Katara added

"An escort from the Avatar?" he said glancing at his companions for confirmation. As if he really needed to. "How could we refuse?"

The group traveled together, chatting and swapping stories for the rest of the day. Sokka was a surprise hit, even if his embellishing of his own adventures earned a few eye rolls from his friends. The sun began to sink slowly toward the distant hills the group readied to make camp. As the work was winding down, the young man who had recognized Aang stepped up to him.

"Um… Mr. Avatar?"

Aang looked up from the tent he was helping erect. Someone else's, of course. "Oh, you can just call me Aang," he smiled.

"T-thank you, Aang. My name is Pansheng." He seemed not quite nervous, but certainly gleeful about meeting the Avatar. "I'd like to ask you something. I want to learn to bend like you do. I want to use my gift to help people in need. I knew it was what I was meant to do with my life the moment I saw you standing up to that villain the Fire Lord!"

"Um… thanks? So you're a bender?"

"Yes, sir! I'm an earthbender." It was like he was applying for a job. Aang could see how desperate he wanted… lessons he guessed? And he could see that he was more than ready to jump right into it.

"Well, I don't mean to disappoint you, but earth is actually my worst element," Aang said with a coy smile. He didn't let the disappointment sink in before he continued, "But maybe you could get lessons from my teacher."

"Really?"

"Absolutely not."

It didn't take Toph long to shoot down her temporary student to be. Aang had barely gotten the question out before she refused.

"Come on, Toph," Aang pleaded, "Why not?"

"Because I don't know this guy. I'm not going to teach every random earthbender that asks _you_!"

"What can I do to prove to you I'm worth your time?" Pansheng asked. He had no idea what a big mistake he had just made. And he was too determined to notice the devilish grin on Toph's face.

"Okay," she said loud enough to draw at least the partial attention of many of the other merchants, "I'll give you a test." She took a cursory glance around the area, or rather what constitutes a cursory glance for a blind earthbender. "Lift that rock," she pointed at a boulder that one might have thought was a small hill. "If you can't so something simple like that, then there's no point in teaching you."

A rock like that, fused with the bedrock below the soil would be a challenge even for Toph, but she wasn't about to say that. Aang tried to warn Pansheng, but Toph shushed him. Pansheng sunk into an earthbending stance. It was clear he had a little training, but that he wasn't exactly an expert. He struggled to lift the rock to the amusement of the other merchants. He looked silly struggling against nothing and he was making no visible progress. Still Toph found herself unexpectedly impressed. Pansheng had already figured out that the boulder was anchored to the bedrock below them and had broke the bond there. It would still be no mean feat to lift the rock, however. It was still massive and half buried in the soil.

"Give it up," Toph dismissed convincingly. Oddly she had started to come to root for the determined earthbender at some point. Everyone else but Aang had lost interest. "You're never going to do it."

"I- Have- To- TRY!" With one last pull, he yanked the boulder about an inch from its resting place. The bottom of the rock was still a good few feet from breaking the surface. Pansheng dropped to the ground, panting and sweating from the effort. "That's it. That's all I can do."

"Well…" Toph started, not a hundred percent sure of her decision. "I didn't say how high you had to lift the rock. So I guess you passed my test. But after a performance like that, you only get one lesson, got it?"

Pansheng looked like he was glowing in the dusk, "Yes, Sifu-Toph! That would be the honor of a life time!"

"You bet it would b-!" Toph stopped when she sensed it. Aang noticed it too. Something was coming for them. And it didn't feel friendly.

* * *

><p>Oh, yeah. This is pretty terrible. It's a place to start when I go back and fix it after it's finished, but yeah… Sorry about this one. In more badish news, the updates are going to slow down a bit in a little while. I'm not feeling Endless Waltz right now and it's getting in the way of my other stories. It's not going to be postponed, but it won't be coming out quickly either. Good news is my other stories are better! (Low bar, I know…)<p> 


	11. Beat 1 Step 10, The Trade Route Part Two

Here I go again with a last minute update. I haven't been very inspired to write this week. And that was before I saw this was on the docket. Thankfully I set myself up pretty well for this to be an easy chapter. I have some plans for the future of this story, so hopefully I can get things moving.

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><p>Aang, Toph, and Pansheng ran into the middle of camp. "We've got a problem!" Aang barely got the sentence out before a group of black-clad bandits dropped out of the trees. Toph couldn't even sense them in the trees since they were mostly water and didn't transfer vibrations to the ground well. The merchants scattered with the exception of Pansheng and one rather large and muscular merchant who grabbed an ornamental spear from one of the carts.<p>

Katara batted a dozen of the bandits with her water whip before they could even have a chance to attack. Sokka's boomerang accounted for a few more. Aang's airbending blasted many more away. Suki took care of any of the bandits that got close to the caravan itself. That didn't leave many for Pansheng or the big trader, and Toph couldn't see them leaping out of the trees. For the most part, the bandits didn't seem to be much of a threat, but Toph and Aang knew better.

"There are a _lot_ of bandits heading this way," Toph informed and pointed into the forest.

"How many?" Sokka asked as he fought off a knife wielding bandit.

"I lost count…"

Aang and Katara, showing off the teamwork they had honed over the last two and a half years, cast aside the attacking bandits with a carful banding dance. "We have to get the merchants out of here!" Aang ordered. "Suki and Sokka, you protect them. Get them to the next town. Toph, Katara, and I will hold off the bandits!"

Sokka flashed the thumbs up, "Got it!"

Just as the group was about to split up, Pansheng noticed another bandit still in the trees. The assassin tossed a knife in Toph's direction. She had no way of sensing the bandit and no hope of sensing the airborne knife in time. Pansheng rushed forward and pushed her out of the way. He took the blade in the ribs instead of her taking it in the back of the head. Once Toph hit the ground, she knew what had just happened. She chucked a boulder in the general direction the knife had come from. It missed the knife thrower, but it smashed into the tree, causing him to fall out. When the bandit hit the ground, Toph knew his exact location and sent him as far away as she could with a pillar of stone.

Everyone rushed over, frightened merchants included, with concern for Pansheng. He had already removed the knife and was holding his hand over the wound. "I'm okay…" he said painfully. He probably would be if the bleeding could be stopped. The blade wasn't long enough to hit anything vital, but the wound was pretty big.

"Let me see it," Katara said calmly. Still, it sounded more like an order than a request. With his hand floating shakily away, Katara made a glove of glowing, spinning water and placed it over the cut. If you looked around Katara's hand you could see the cut sealing up in seconds. She pulled her hand away. You could still see a small wound, but it was mostly a bad bruise and some jagged lines. "It's not fixed, but he'll be fine as long as he doesn't reopen it. How do you feel, Pansheng?"

"Ready for action…!" he started to say, but he couldn't manage to pick himself up.

"Oh, no you don't," Katara warned, "You're not going to be in fighting shape for a few weeks. And that's assuming you get steady healing sessions." She thought for a moment, then looked up at Aang. "Maybe I should stay with them…"

"Ehh, there are a lot of bandits on their way," Toph said tentatively. "We could really use your help…"

"It's okay," Pansheng said before anyone could argue. He was being loaded onto a comfy sleeping mat on one of the carts by the other merchants. "I'll be okay. I promise to take it easy until I heal up. Just get those bandits."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Toph said quickly. She walked over to Pansheng, "Lesson one in advance." She flicked him hard in the head. "Don't use your body to block what you can block with earth, dummy!"

"Er, right. Sorry Sifu-Toph."

"And you better not die or anything. You've still got an earthbending lesson to take, and there are no wimps in Sifu-Toph's School of Earthbending Excellence!"

"Nice," Sokka complimented.

"Don't worry, Sifu-Toph. I'll be over this in no time and be ready for my lesson!" Pansheng vowed, "I promise!"

"Well, good!" Toph nodded as the caravan started on its way through the dark night. Hopefully they wouldn't encounter any more bandits. At least Sokka and Suki were with them. "Alright! Let's kick some bandit butt! As long as they're not hiding in the trees, they're mine!" Two or three more knives flew out of the shadowy leaves. Aang blasted the attacks away with his airbending. "Uh, the ones in the trees are all yours…"

As more of the stealthy knife throwers were picked off by Aang and Katara, Toph readied herself for the waves of bandits coming by way of running on the ground like a normal person. The skill of the bandits seemed to very wildly. Some of them fought like master assassins, while others were run of the mill thugs. And plenty of shades of grey in between. For the most part, a dozen or two attackers could be brushed off with a gust, wave, or tremor, but others required a bit of skill to repel. They had been surrounded rather quickly, but only a few times did the bandits even get close enough to even attack them. There had to be hundreds of bandits, but Aang and his friends didn't show any sign of tiring. Still the battle wore on Aang's nerves, if nothing else. The longer this went on, the more likely it was that some kind of accident could happen.

Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright white for a moment and a sphere of air formed around him. With easy flicks of his hands, blasts of air parted the crowd and a final thrust sent a fissure toward one of the more skilled bandits he had picked out thanks to his heightened senses. When the fissure, too fast to dodge, met its target a column of rock appeared from the ground and trapped the bandit. The whole forest grew still as the sphere of air dissipated.

"This fighting won't get you anywhere!" Aang announced in a voice too commanding for his young and small body. "I want to talk to your leader. There has to be a non-violent way to settle this."

The trapped bandit looked around at his colleagues, than back at the Avatar and nodded. Aang released the bandit as the rest disbanded into the darkness. Aang, Katara, and Toph followed the last of them as he beckoned them to follow.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Aang?" Katara asked, ready for another ambush in the dark of night.

"Not really…" he said honestly, just as alert, "But maybe we can do something to help these people so they don't have to be bandits in the first place. At the very least we'll get to meet their leader."

"Do you really think you can talk to these people, Twinkle Toes?"

"You might be surprised," he said in a surprisingly cheery voice. "Sometimes people become bandits out of necessity. And sometimes it's something that the Avatar can fix."

"Ever the optimist…"

Finally they made their way into some kind of camp. Obviously the bandit camp. The bandit that had been leading them directed to a large, ornate tent in the center of camp. It was unbearably tense approaching it. Aang and his friends were hopelessly outnumbered, but the bandits were hopelessly outmatched. The fact that in their fight no one actually conceded defeat only made things worse. Eventually, after an eternity, they made it inside the tent without incident. Inside was a single figure, hidden in the shadow of a fire.

"Who are you?"

"Me?" a low voice responded, "I'm what you'd call a merchant… A merchant of death."

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><p>Better than the last one at least. Not perfect, but passible, so I'll take it. This, of course, is the issue right here. This isn't that fantastic and I'd much rather be working on <em>Dragon Knight<em>, _Fire_, or _Alternate Gundam_. Or _Legacy_ for that matter, but that one's a tough one to find time for.

In any event, because I apparently have to say it every f $%ing time, DO NOT GIVE ME SPAM REVIEWS! Either give me useful critiques or don't review at all. Thank you and good night.


	12. Beat 1 Step 11, The Huntress

When the hell did Friday happen?! I lost a whole effing week somewhere! I'm going to have to get this one done quickly, so sorry for any errors. I do have a plan for this though, so that's good.

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><p>A woman stood up from behind the fire warming her tent in the cool night. She was a powerful looking thirty something year old in black leather armor. Her face was covered in faint scars, including one more pronounced one over her left eye. Speaking of her eyes, the bright blue death glare was enough to burn a hole through most. Her jet black hair was tied back into a tight bun.<p>

"You're the Avatar, right?" the woman asked. She eyed the three teens down like a wolf stalking a deer. The further out of the shadow of the fire she got, the more knives, varying in sizes, one could see sheathed all over her person. "You almost put me out of business a few years back."

As casual as the woman's tone was, there was venom in it enough to sear anyone listening. Her slow strides would take her another minute or two yet to get across the impressively large tent. It was pretty clear from her posture, tone, and movements that this visit wasn't likely to be cordial by the time she made the trip over. "I'm sorry to hear about your problem," Aang said in the same less than cordial tone, "But I don't think I'd lose any sleep over putting a 'Merchant of Death' out of business…"

"I guess you wouldn't," the woman said, stopping next to the fire. Aang had a bad feeling he knew what her next move was going to be.

"You didn't answer my friend's question!" Toph more demanded than anything else. "Who are you, Ms. Merchant of Death?"

"I used to be 'Mizaki the Huntress', the greatest mercenary the Fire Nation had ever produced. Now I'm just a humble bandit." Mizaki sighed wistfully as she reminisced her mercenary days. "The work is easy, and the pay is good. But there's just not as much satisfaction in stabbing some unsuspecting trader in the back as cutting up a real soldier." She drew one of the knives strapped to her leg and twirled it idly in her hand, "Ah, I can't remember the last time I got to sink one of these into the flesh of someone worthy…" She noticed something on the hilt of the blade and scrapped at it with a gloved finger, "Oops. I thought I got all the blood off from last time."

"Y-you're a monster!" Katara gasped at Mizaki's callous disinterest in the face of murder.

"Was!" Mizaki barked back, anger left just barely unsuppressed. "I _was_ a monster, feared by friend and foe alike! Back then, anyone under my command knew the price of failing me. Now even my most loyal followers are giving up and letting children into my personal quarters. It's a sad day when a girl has to butcher her own people just to keep the rabble in line."

"You won't be butchering anyone!" Katara vowed.

"Right," Mizaki smiled, "Let me save you the rest of your heroic speech; 'Your reign of terror is at an end, you've claimed your last life murderer, I will be the one…'" Her mockery was cut off when Katara summoned a water whip. Mizaki ducked the attack, tossing her knife at Katara. She plucked the knife out of the air with her water whip and let it drop harmlessly at her feet. "Perhaps my drought of worthy opponents is finally over…" She drew a handful of small pellets from a pouch on her belt. Aang was right, the assassin doused the fire with the pellets and drowned the tent in utter darkness.

The darkness didn't give Toph any pause. The only reason she even knew the lights had gone out was because she didn't feel the heat from the fire anymore. She sensed Mizaki toss another knife, this time at her. She blocked it with a pillar of stone. The knife buried itself hilt deep into the dense, solid rock. In the same motion, Toph struck the top of her rock pillar defense, sending it at Mizaki. She easily rolled out of the way, this time sending yet a third knife at Katara. Being the only one that couldn't see in the dark, Aang stepped in for her and blocked it with earth like Toph. However, Aang approached and unleashed a barrage of fire blasts bright enough to illuminate the tent. Now that she could see, Katara joined in as well. It was all Mizaki could do just to avoid the three pronged assault.

Aang got close and countered one of the assassin's knife slashes with some airbending moves and threw her out of a hole made when Toph attacked. The hit looked harder than it was and Mizaki was able to catch herself in the air and land on her feet. Aang, Katara, and Toph rushed out of the tent after her. The moon illuminated the four as they squared off for another round. "It looks like your drought just became a flood," Toph mocked. Mizaki just smiled.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I brought swimming buddies."

The camp all around them came alive with bandits, ready to attack. "Didn't you already try this?" Katara asked, trying (and doing a pretty good job at) sounding intimidating.

Before that had the chance to sink in and have any effect, Mizaki spoke up again with confidence, "Not with me around, honey."

She was the first to move, leaping into the air and trying to bring a knife down on Aang's head. While the attack was repelled easily enough, the attacker wasn't so easily gotten rid of. She side stepped the air blast meant to send her flying and turned. Her kick aimed at Katara and knife slash aimed at Aang were both deflected, but now all of the other Bandits were on the three of them. Without trees around for any of them to hide in, Toph could send whole waves of charging bandits flying into the night. The problem was Mizaki. Any time the master assassin got close, Toph couldn't bother to keep the bandit horde at bay. Katara had the same problem. There was ample water in the camp to wash away the rabble around her, but Mizaki was too dangerous to ignore. Aang did his best to keep her attention on him while the girls handled the others. But Mizaki proved to be a much closer match for the Avatar than anyone expected. She was so nimble she was all but untouchable and her attacks were equally swift.

The fight had gone on for several minutes and all parties were starting to slow down. Just as Mizaki was about to rush Aang again, a boomerang sailed out of the darkness and clocked Mizaki right in the side of her head. She hit the dirt hard as the knife throwers formed a protective circle around her. It was unnecessary, she was up a second later rubbing her sore temple.

A breath later, Suki came bursting through the crowd, sending a half dozen bandits face-first into the dirt. Sokka was right behind her. "Get away from my sister and our friends!" he commanded.

Mizaki scoffed, "What is this, the cavalry?"

"Something like that."

Mizaki was ready to dismiss the interlopers until she looked around at her bandits. They were all exhausted and covered in mud. "Fine. You win this round, Avatar. But you ended the war without thinking about the consequences." As she spoke, the bandits started disappearing into the shadows of the camp. "There are a lot of people like me out there. And they're just as angry and bored as I have been. You should watch your back or you're going to find a knife in it. Keheheh."

"People can live without fighting," Aang said strongly.

"You just keep telling yourself that, kid." And with that she was gone like the others.

Aang, Toph, and Katara finally got a chance to catch their breath. Katara looked over at Aang and saw just how close Mizaki got to winning. Aang had a cut across his arm and one on his nose.

"How are the merchants?" Toph asked after she had caught her breath.

"They're fine," Sokka reported confidently. "There was a little village off the trade route with a doctor, so we left them there."

"At least we got rid of those bandits," Suki smiled optimistically. "I bet the trade route will be a lot safer for a while now."

"Hopefully," Aang sighed as Katara finished healing him.

Day had broken by the time the bandits set up temporary camp well away from the trade route. "Mistress," one of the knife throwers addressed Mizaki, "It won't be long before the Avatar has to leave the area. We'll send out scouts to let us know when it's safe to move back in."

"That won't be necessary," Mizaki said in a dark cheerfulness as she munched on some stolen food. "I'm done being some no-name bandit. It's time to become the Huntress again. And there's no bigger game than the Avatar!"

* * *

><p>I almost cut that a little shorter, but that final scene with Mizaki had to go here on not exist at all. I like Mizaki as a character and I think this chapter was pretty strong in spite of the time crunch. And I'll admit she was in some ways loosely inspired by the League of Legends character Katarina. (Though I think Nidalee's title is "the Huntress", but whatever (Nidalee spears OP, Riot plz nerf).)<p>

Anyway, while this is pretty darn good, I'm still going to slow down the updates on this one. This will let me give it and my other stories the TLC they need. Or so I hope. If I have any readers and they'd like to support me while _Endless Waltz_ slows down, feel free to check out my other stories. I've got a lot of Avatar ones for some reason. If I may, I recommend _Avatar: Rise of the Dragon Knight_. There; shameless self-promotion over.


	13. Beat 1 Step 12, A Bit Closer

Last minute, but oh well. I think I'm going to start moving the story along. I could go on like I have for longer and I may add more later when I go back and touch it up, but for now I'd like to get to the next part of the story. This will the beginning of that hopefully.

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><p>Aang was happy he was able to get rid of the threat along the trade route so quickly. The idea that there were people like Mizaki even existed in the first place made him sad, but at least she wouldn't be hurting people at least for a little while. After they found the Earth King and resolved this mess with Long Feng they would have to track her down and bring her to justice for her crimes though. Then again, Aang had a feeling that he would be seeing more of the assassin in the future weather he wanted to or not.<p>

The party stayed the night in the little town that Sokka and Suki had dropped the merchants off in, though there was no sign of the Earth King there unfortunately. They left early the next morning, bidding their new friends farewell and taking off on Appa to the next major town on the route.

It took most of another day to get there, but they arrived with enough daylight to look around. The town looked pretty cozy and welcoming, but many of the shops were closed. That seemed odd given the hour. Some of the shops even looked like they've been closed for weeks straight. The streets seemed more empty than they should have for the hour as well. The town was quite lovely; it was obvious that it had benefited greatly from the trade route. Marble statues and ornamental water fountains adorned the streets and small public gardens. Though they too seemed to be slowly feeling the effects of neglect. They were all undamaged, and many were in perfect condition, but some of them looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while. It was like the wealth of this once prosperous was slowly drying up.

The further into town they got the more people there were. It became clear as the town hall came into view that most of the population of the town was quickly congregating there. There was a line, in fact, to get into the town hall. The gang stepped up to one of the townsfolk and politely hailed him.

"Excuse me, mister," Aang bowed to a spritely, but older man. "Would you mind telling me why everyone is doing at the town hall?"

The man immediately recognized the Avatar and bowed deeply. He was quick to provide an answer, seeming proud that he had the chance to assist the Avatar. "Oh, well you see, our town has been going through some rough times lately. The trade route that runs through our town was cut off by a mudslide going on nine months now and the people are really starting to suffer. Well, our pocketbooks are anyway. We grow just enough food to feed ourselves and have plenty of game in the forest nearby for the winter. But most of us are merchants and don't have anything to pay the local farmers and hunters with without the trade route. They've been very generous with us so far, but we can't ask them to give us handouts forever. That's why we're here. Our mayor is very wise. Not every suggestion he's made has worked out, but thanks to him and his ever-growing wealth of experience, he's been able to keep us merchants just barely afloat."

"Why don't you just clear the mudslide?" Toph asked, "There are earthbenders in this town aren't there?"

"The mayor did suggest that," the merchant said sadly, "Unfortunately, that's one of his suggestions that didn't work. When the earthbenders removed the soil, the water just dragged more mud in the way. And we won't be getting any help from Ba Sing Se until they start noticing goods from farther down the road drying up in the city. That's royalty for you. It's a good thing we've had the mayor's guidance all the same though. He may have been here for only three years, but…"

"Wait!" Sokka sputtered, grabbing the man's shoulders to his surprise, "Did you say three years? He doesn't have a pet bear, does he?"

"Bear?"

"Yeah, it's this weird-looking brown thing!"

"I'm… not sure, actually. He's a pretty privet man and only sees people in his office. I don't know if he has a pet."

"That sounds like the Earth King to me," Katara muttered. The other nodded in agreement.

"I need to speak with your mayor, sir," Aang informed the merchant, "Would he mind if I go see him now?"

"Actually, you'd better not barge in. Even if you're the Avatar. Our mayor cares very much for us townsfolk, and he _hates_ cutting."

"Well, if we can find a way to clear the mudslide, will that help us get to see him any faster?" Suki asked hopefully.

"Why, if you kids could do that, I bet he'd be jumping to see you! Do you really think you can?"

"We're going to try!" Aang assured as he and his friends climbed back on their surprisingly inconspicuous sky bison and took off to find the mudslide. It didn't take them long to find it. The slow running, gurgling river of mud crossing the well-worn trade wasn't hard to spot from the air. It seemed part of a nearby river had changed course and started spilling thick mud down a forested hill. The sands of the riverbank ensured that the muddy flow would never run out of material to dump across the vital path.

Aang and Toph tried to lift the mud out of the way, but as the merchant had told them, the mud simply replaced itself again. It was worth a shot, but it was obvious why that wasn't going to work no matter how many times they tried. It was the water that kept dumping the mud in the way. Katara tried to remove the water with her water bending, but the river was spilling water down the hill too fast to stop. And it's not like that was a permanent solution anyway. Though seeing the mud grind almost to a halt without the water to push it, Sokka came to a seemingly obvious conclusion; "It's not the water that's the problem, it's the water from the river!"

"We already know that, Sokka," Katara said as she gave up on her efforts to stop the tide. "But it's not like we can stop the river."

"We don't have to," Sokka emphasized, "We only need to stop the part that's spilling all this mud all over the place. We could make a dam!"

"Well, there was probably a natural dam there before the river started," Suki noted, "It may be as simple moving a boulder that got washed away by the current back in place."

"And it just so happens that movin' rocks is my personal specialty!" Toph added as she cracked her knuckles and started up the hill.

"It's worth a shot," Aang said as he and the others followed her.

"…But I wanted to design a cool dam…"

The track up the hill was a lot harder than any of them (especially Toph) expected with the ground so soft and uneven with all the excess water. Once they made it to the top, they were graced with the sight of a lovely, healthy river. The river was fairly quick and deep, so Katara had to part it to get a good look at the riverbed. Of course it wasn't as simple as fitting a missing rock back in its place in the jigsaw puzzle, but after a bit of stonesmithing from Aang and Toph, they were able to lessen the flood and restore some order to the chaotic river. The effects not being instantaneous didn't please Toph, so she went as far as to fuse the rocks they had replaced to make a solid wall. This time the effects _were_ almost instantaneous and much of the flowing mud stopped. When the group returned to the path, Aang, Katara, and Toph lifted the mud out of the way one last time. Finally, it stayed gone.

When they returned to the town to announce that the road was once again clear, the entire town roared with praise and cheers for the Avatar. The town mayor even graced them with his presence. Unfortunately, the tall, burly, bearded man was not who they were looking for.

"Thank you, young Avatar," the mayor bowed graciously, "We are all in your debt."

"No biggie," Aang assured, "But you might be able to help us in return."

"Anything, child."

"We're looking for someone and we need find him as soon as possible. He has a pet bear. It's very unique."

"You mean a just plain old bear? You must mean Basco!" Everyone lit up at the mention of the Earth King's pet's name. "Actually, I know exactly where he and his owner are right now!"

* * *

><p>And there we go. I think this one worked out the way I wanted. I've been trying to be varied in the types of challenges that Aang and his friends have had to face. I think I was able to make this work and let it work on its own and as part of the larger narrative. I was also able to make Sokka look equal parts genius and idiot, so that's good. He's actually surprisingly hard to write for as it turns out…<p> 


	14. Beat 1 Step 13, Found

I really don't want to be bothered to do this, but I don't feel I have the right to flake on however many people care enough to read this. It's not that I've lost my enthusiasm for writing, it's just that my schedule has become a bit of an albatross. I'm seriously considering putting a little vacation into my next schedule to give myself a break so this stops being work. But that's neither here nor there.

As for this chapter, this is going to be an important one needless to say. This is going to start the next phase of the story, so I hope it will turn out well.

* * *

><p>Appa cruised through the sky toward a nearby town not too far off from the trade route that they had been following thus far. It wasn't too far, and they would reach it before nightfall. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, leaving only the last glow of twilight, as the trees began to part, signaling the closeness of a town. As the group got closer and closer, a warm glow began to peek through the lavender of the evening sky. With no smoke to be seen, Aang and the others could be assured that the light was the sign of a thriving population center and not the destruction that still lingered from the war. The mayor of the previous town was not only able to give the location of the town the Earth King was living in, he was able to give them the exact tent he worked in every day.<p>

"I can't believe the Earth King is working at a circus!" Toph called over the rushing wind as Appa raced toward their objective. "I mean, why a circus? He's the Earth King for peat's sake!"

"Well, he wanted to connect with the commoners," Katara replied, "I guess we should have known he would be doing something mundane. And Bosco would make quite the attraction!"

"But why not be an adventurer and save towns in danger and stuff?" Toph returned, "It's what I did!"

"The Earth King isn't exactly the most capable of fighters," Sokka noted. "He probably wanted to do something that was different, but still something he could do."

"Still seems kind of lame to me…"

"Well, you can tell him that when we land," Aang said from atop Appa's head. The sky bison swooped down towards the outskirts of an impressive town with an even more impressive circus tent. The ground shown with ornate lantern light, giving the entire area a subtle glow. It seemed as though the houses and storefronts that made up the permanent buildings were merely a backdrop for the bustling circus. It was a sight to behold.

Suki whistled at the sight of it all. "I gotta say, it's fitting for the Earth King. No wonder he chose to stay here."

"They probably don't even know that he's the Earth King. That's probably why he doesn't know to return to Ba Sing Se," Aang noted.

"Actually, I've been thinking about that." Everyone turned to Sokka, who was tapping his chin in thought. He looked up and noted their questioning looks. "Well, everyone knows the war ended," he explained, "Shouldn't that have been his cue to return to the capital?"

"I'm sure there's an explanation," Katara reassured her brother.

"Well, we'll be getting it soon enough," Aang said as he brought Appa in for a landing at the edge of the circus. From the air the circus was a sight to behold. From the ground it was overwhelming. It looked like something that belonged in the upper ring rather than a hamlet in the woods. And the sheer mass of people was staggering. Hundreds upon hundreds of people in colorful costumes rushed back and forth, cleaning up after another long day of entertaining the masses.

"How the heck are we going to find the Earth King in all of this?" Toph complained, "There are too many voices to tell them apart, so I'm stumped."

"And there are too many faces to sift through," Sokka agreed. "We can't just walk around at random and search for the Earth King."

"I'll go see if I can find the ringmaster. He'll probably know where he is." With that Aang leaped over the crowds of people toward the main tent. While this caught the attention of a few of the circus performers, most paid the feat no mind. After all, weird was their day job.

"We should ask around about Bosco," Suki said to the others, "Even if they don't know who the Earth King is, they should know about this 'bear' thing." They all agreed and set about asking as many of the circus performers about the unusual creature. Unfortunately, there were plenty of weird, furry, brown things lumbering around that no one knew exactly what they were talking about.

Aang was having slightly better luck inside the main tent. Thanks to the kind directions of a few acrobats, Aang was able to find the ringmaster. The ringleader was speaking to someone in unusually plain dress for such a vibrant circus and the conversation seemed heated. Part of Aang wanted to eavesdrop, but he decided to make his presence known as he approached.

The plain clothed man seemed more agitated at Aang's approach than he should have been. He snarled at the approaching boy before turning back to the ringmaster. "Think about what I said. A circus is a dangerous place after all. Accidents happen. Bad accidents _will_ happen without insurance."

"I told you," the ringmaster glared back, "We don't have anything to discuss." The plain clothed man stomped off with a huff, shoving over a pile of knickknacks on his way out.

"What was that about?" Aang asked once he made his way to the ringmaster. He bent down to help the older man pick up what the other had knocked over.

"Oh, don't pay him any mind," the ringmaster said lightly. With the supplies set back up, the ringmaster turned his full attention to Aang. "So tell me young man, what brings you to my humble circus? If I didn't recognize you, I'd think you might be here for a job in that outfit."

Aang looked down at his colorful robes and smiled, "What can I say? I have a taste for the classics."

"Well, it suits you," the ringmaster smiled.

"As for why I'm here," Aang said, getting serious, "I'm not sure if you know this, but the Earth King is here in your circus in disguise. He would have come with a pet bear."

"Oh, you must mean Kuei and Bosco," the ringmaster said instantly. He thought for a second, "He's really the Earth King in disguise? That would explain a few things…"

"Well, we need him back in Ba Sing Se as soon as possible," Aang emphasized, "There's a crisis there only he can resolve."

"Well, I'd be glad to take you to him. I have to know exactly where all of my employees are at all times. Burden of the job, you see."

The ringmaster led Aang out of the tent and over to the many large cages that held all of the circus animals. He was happy to see all the animals were well cared for and had enough space to be comfortable in their pens. As it turns out, Aang's friends were already there and speaking with the Earth King. Though something Sokka shouted made his heart sink;

"What do you mean you won't come back to Ba Sing Se?!"

* * *

><p>Well, this wasn't exactly what I expected. Still like it though. Wasn't planning on splitting it, but I think this fits better. (Also time, but that's neither here nor there (again).)<p> 


	15. Beat 1 Step 14, Gathering Clouds

Yeah, this isn't one of my better ones, so I'm not really that inspired. I don't really have any intentions of scrapping it (that would be the second time), but I have other stories that I just think are better. That said, I feel I should soldier on with this one. One of my biggest pet peeves is following a story only to see it just dropped in the middle by the author. In fewer words; I guess I should just get on with it.

* * *

><p>Sokka and the others had indeed found the Earth King. He was tending to the animals when he was stopped and was giving Aang's panicking friends a stubborn look. "I mean I have no intention of going back to that accursed city and I have no intention of going back to being the Earth King."<p>

Aang and the ringmaster entered the conversation, their confused looks asking for clarification. "What's going on? Why won't you return, your majesty?" Aang asked as the Earth King tried to get back to his work.

"Why?" he scoffed, "Why would anyone want me back? For my entire rule I was just some puppet for my culture minister of all things, than only days after finally taking control of the city thanks to you children alone, I lose it and the war I didn't even know I was fighting to the Fire Nation! The Earth Kingdom is better off with me here. Where I can't mess anything up."

The group looked to each other. It sounded pretty convincing when he put it that way. There was a noticeable pause as everyone tried to come up with a rebuttal. The Earth King took that as a cue to continue tending to the animals. Eventually, Katara spoke up, "But your majesty…"

"Don't call me that!" he snapped, causing everyone but the ringmaster to jump. "I'm not 'your majesty' anymore," he said in a calmer voice, "I'm just Kuei now."

Katara tried to regain her train of thought after the outburst. She cleared her throat and tried to continue. Though was odd for her to use the Earth King's first name, "Um… But Kuei, everyone was fooled by Long Feng and the Dai Lee. No one expects you to be perfect."

"Yeah! And Long Feng and the Dai Lee are back in control of the city!" Sokka exclaimed, following the Earth King as he started away. "That's why you need to get back to Ba Sing Se!"

"Why don't you kids just handle it like you did last time?" the Earth King grumbled. "One of you be the new Earth King instead of me. You'd probably be better at it than me anyway…"

"But Kuei," the ringmaster said, putting a friendly hand on the Earth King's shoulder, "You were born to be the Earth King. It's who you are."

That seemed to give him a lot to think about. He thought about it for a moment, "B-but I'm so much happier here. And what about our Grand Finally show tomorrow?"

The ringmaster smiled warmly, "You're right. You should stay until we're packed up tomorrow night. But after that you should go with the Avatar and his friends. The Earth Kingdom needs you to resolve this crisis. After that you can decide what to do."

The Earth King mulled it over for a bit, and after a nerve wracking pause, he finally nodded. "Alright. I suppose if my kingdom needs me. But I'll have to take Bosco with me. I've never been without him."

"Of course," the ringmaster said comfortingly, "You will be missed."

The Earth King nodded gratefully and left. The minute he turned the corner, everyone let out a big sigh of relief. "That was tougher than I thought it would be," Suki sighed.

"And that wasn't even the hard part…" Aang added. Everyone braced themselves for the next week or two. They still had to get rid of Long Feng and bring peace back the Ba Sing Se (and by extension the Earth Kingdom as a whole) **and** they had to convince the Earth King to stay so something like this wouldn't happen again. But they'd have to cross all those hurdles when they came to them.

The mood of the group infinitely brightened when the ringmaster clapped everyone on the back and grinned ear to ear. "Well, Kuei still has one more day here before he's off to save the Earth Kingdom. Why don't you kids stick around for a free show tomorrow? We're leaving town after this last show, so it'll be our grandest performance!"

"That sounds great!" Aang said happily. There was agreement all around as no one was going to turn down a free show at such a magnificent circus.

"Will we get to see the Earth King preform too?" Katara asked.

The ringmaster chuckled a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… no. Kuei isn't exactly the most worldly person. He tried to come on as a performer, but he didn't exactly make the cut. Bosco's become quite the star, though. And Kuei has actually gotten quite good at managing things behind the scenes." The ringmaster chuckled, "Who knows? Maybe his time with us will help him in his kingly duties!"

On that happy note, Aang and the others headed into the actual town to find an Inn to spend the night. When not juxtaposed against the massive circus from the air, the town didn't seem so tiny. It wasn't the most impressive hamlet they'd been to, but it was clear they benefitted from being so close to a main trade route.

There was only one Inn in town that had a stable big enough for Appa, but it was comfortable and cheap, so the lack of choice wasn't really that much of a problem. The night passes quickly and Aang and the others made their way to the circus eagerly. The ringmaster even had a special seat made for Appa so he could watch the show too.

The show started and lived up to the grandness of the tent that housed it. Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and amazing and rare animals showed off their talents for a show that seemed to never end. The crowd cheered especially loud for Bosco, who showed impressive stage presence.

The stars of the show, however, were the group of acrobats Aang had met the day before. "The Flying Gao Hus" were the center of attention from the second they started. The massive tent gave them plenty of room for feats that even impressed even Aang. Just to up the danger, they also performed without a net. One mistake would be tragic. But it was obvious that wasn't going to happen to the father, mother, and son trio.

The show was winding down a little after noon and the Flying Gao Hus stepped up to the trapeze one more time. It started off just as impressively flawless as before, but shortly into the performance, something went wrong. One of the lines on the trapeze snapped, sending the elder Gao Hus plummeting toward the ground five stories below.

Aang reacted on instinct, airbending himself toward the falling acrobats. To everyone's relief, he was able to catch them just before they hit the ground. The crowd cheered. It was hard for most to tell if that was a part of the show, or a disaster narrowly avoided, but either way it was exciting and everyone was glad no one was hurt.

"I can't believe the rope snapped like that!" Katara gasped.

"I know," Suki agreed, "What bad luck."

"If that guy running for the exit like his life depends on it is anything to go by," Toph said calmly, "I'd say that bad luck was arraigned." The others looked around, but didn't see anything with so much motion from the crowd. "Don't worry. I got this one." With that Toph slipped under the bleachers and landed on the ground below. With one simple motion, she sunk the fleeing man into the earth just as he left the tent. She, the others, and Aang after he accepted the thanks of the Gao Hus, all converged on the fleeing man.

"I recognize you!" Aang said as he arrived at the struggling and cursing man. "You're the guy who was threatening the ringmaster yesterday!"

"This ain't over!" the man growled as he struggled against the ground uselessly, "There'll be more accidents! I promise you! No one denies us!"

"You won't be causing any more accidents from now on," Katara said confidently, "You're going to jail!"

The man threw his head back as far as he could and laughed crazily, "Do whatever you want with me! I can't go back to my mistress after a failure like this. But know that she will find you. And when she does, you won't even see her coming before she cuts you to pieces! Hahahahahaha~!"

"Wait. 'Your mistress'?"

Elsewhere, on the trade route closer to Ba Sing Se, the bandits Netsu and Ying lamented. "That blasted Avatar! Ever since he stopped us our men keep leaving us," the firebender Netsu complained.

"It's so hard to find good help these days," the earthbender agreed.

"Maybe I can help with that."

The two powerful benders looked around for the source of feminine voice, but were only met with the sudden appearance of a group of strangers in dark clothes and masks. Ying and Netsu prepared for a fight, but someone behind them put her arms around their shoulders. It was a powerful-looking thirty-something year old woman with scars. "Boys," the woman said with a wicked grin, "I've got a proposition for you. Keheheheheheh."

* * *

><p>A little short and maybe not my best, but serviceable. I don't really have much else to say, so see you when I see you.<p>

Oh, right. If "the Flying Gao Hus" sounds familiar, yes. I am referencing that.


	16. Beat 1 Step 15, Thunderclap

Starting this a little late, but I don't care as much as I normally do. This isn't one of my better stories and I've been working on a lot of different things lately. Still, it's come up and it'll be done. I'm not a hundred percent sure what this is going to be, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

* * *

><p>Appa raced toward Ba Sing Se. With the Earth King found, they finally had what they needed to confront Long Feng. Luckily the Earth King had kept all of his regalia so he would look the part on returning to the city. It would take a few days to get back to Ba Sing Se, but now they had a straight shot to get there. The Earth king didn't talk much as the trip progressed. With Bosco curled up in the saddle with the rest of the group (to poor Appa's chagrin), the Earth King could just hide from everyone behind his big, fuzzy, companion. It was pretty clear he had been having second thoughts about going back to the capital since take off. Still, it was also clear that he knew it was the right thing to do and that he had no choice in the matter.<p>

It took a little longer than expected, but finally the party arrived at the wall of Ba Sing Se. Like before, the guards at the wall looked ready to turn away anyone who approached. With that in mind, Appa landed away from the wall. The group decided to at least try to settle the crisis diplomatically, so Aang and the Earth King approached one of the gates on foot. By the time they had gotten to within sprinting distance of the wall, the guards had ordered them to stop and were moving toward them.

"The city is off limits right now," the guard said forcefully as the two groups approached, "No one is allowed in the city."

"I know about the recent riots," Aang returned to the guard, "I'm here with the Earth King to restore the peace."

"You're mistaken. There are no riots in Ba Sing Se. And the Earth King is safe in his palace."

"But I'm the Earth King!" his majesty protested.

Aang stepped forward again, "I'm the Avatar. I was there for the riot. And I know that Long Feng is secretly in control of the city. You have to let us in so we can put a stop to him."

The two guards that had approached looked to each other with a knowing look. "Well, if you put it like that…" Without any other warning, the two men aimed their spears at the Earth King. Aang was easily able to deflect the attacks and usher the King away toward the relative safety of the tree line. Before continuing their attack, one of the guards turned toward the wall to address the soldiers there. "Battle Stations! An imposter Earth King is trying to enter the city! Kill them both!"

Aang had already put some distance between he and his companion and the spear wielding soldiers, but now they had to deal with a hail of arrows from the troops on the wall. "Stay behind me!" Aang ordered. With the Earth King huddled safely behind him, Aang created a swirl of wind with his staff. The little tornado absorbed all the arrows that were close enough to be a threat, causing them to spin harmlessly away. "Let's go."

Aang didn't have to tell the Earth King twice. They both made a break for the trees, the soldiers taking after them surprisingly quickly. It only took about sixty seconds for them to hit the tree line and make their way well into the forest. Unfortunately for them, they had already passed their targets. Aang and the Earth King popped out of the bush they were hiding in just inside the cover of the trees.

"Well, that didn't work," Aang complained.

As much as Aang was disappointed by the failure of the diplomatic approach, the Earth King was downright devastated. "How are we ever going to solve this crisis if I can't even get into the city?" the Earth King cried, "I haven't even had a chance to try yet and I've already failed!"

"Don't worry, your majesty," Aang smiled back, "I know another way in."

Aang and the Earth King returned to the others and boarded Appa. After the hostile reception from the men on the wall, it was pretty clear Long Feng had near full if not full control of the city. With that in mind, Aang steered Appa up into the cover of the clouds. The cloud cover wasn't perfect, but the shadows of the setting sun helped conceal the sky bison from the watchful eyes below.

The group landed in a sparely populated part of the lower ring to assess their situation. It wasn't that hard to find a spot that Appa could land that didn't have too many people. And while that wasn't particularly surprising, it was very worrying.

"It won't be long before Long Feng hears about us trying to get in," Sokka mentioned as they all got off. Appa seemed particularly happy to shed Bosco's weight. "We're going to have to find a way to get into the palace and take down Long Feng before we get swarmed with guards."

"Do you think we could get the people on our side?" Suki asked.

"After what happened last time, I don't think they'll be too happy about gathering at the palace again," Katara mentioned.

"And I don't want to put anybody in any unnecessary danger," Aang added.

The Earth King spoke up with more conviction than he usually did, "I agree with Aang. I don't want to stage a coup to overthrow Long Feng. I just want to bring about peace."

"Alright, but that means we'll have to sneak in," Sokka said, "That's going to be really hard."

"What about the underground city?" Toph said, "I bet I could get us right into the middle of the palace from there."

Before anyone could respond, the sounds of fighting broke out in a distant part of the city. "You've got to be kidding me…" Aang grumbled as he airbended himself onto a nearby roof for a better view of what was going on. "It's the upper ring again!" he called back down to the others, "I think another riot is going on!"

"So much for the people not being happy about gathering at the palace again…" Katara sighed.

Aang hopped back down to the others with ease. "We need to see if all that noise is as bad as it sounds," he said as he opened his glider.

"Wait, Aang," Sokka said before the swift airbender could take off. "This is the perfect opportunity for us. We should try to get in while Long Feng is distracted by this new protest."

"But what if this one gets out of control like last time?" Aang worried out loud.

It took a second of thought, but Sokka spoke up again with an answer, "Suki and I will go. We'll check out the protest and see if it's as bad as it sounds or not."

"I'll go with you," Katara said, "I'll be needed if anyone gets hurt."

"Looks like it's you, me, and Kuei, Twinkletoes," Toph said as she started off toward an entrance to Ba Sing Se's secret underground ruins.

"You wait here, buddy," Aang said to Appa. Before following after Toph with the Earth King, Aang glanced back at Katara, "You have your bison whistle?" Katara nodded as she showed Aang the item. "Good. Stay safe."

"You too," she called. And with that, the two groups set out to their tasks.

* * *

><p>Meh. This is alright. I'm actually getting through this much faster than I thought I would in terms of story movement, but this is still pretty lame. I think I know what I'll be doing in the next chapter or two, but that will be a long way off.<p> 


	17. Beat 1 Step 16, The Rain Begins

I'm starting this really late, but I really can't care. Endless Waltz has been mediocre overall and it's a real discredit to it since I think it has potential as a story. As such, like some of my other stories, this is going on an indefinite hiatus after this chapter. That may end up leaving it on a cliffhanger depending on what I do here, but that's better than meandering through it with no purpose. Sorry to anybody reading this, but it's for the best. This isn't the end of course, but it'll take a real long while before I get back around to this one.

* * *

><p>With the lower ring of the city completely empty, it was easy to find a way to one of the many entrances to the underground city below Ba Sing Se. Needless to say, Appa was none too keen on going underground, so he stayed behind, ready to go to Katara if she called. Toph and Aang opened the narrow path toward the underground city. It took about fifteen minutes to get through the rock separating the city above from the abandoned one below. Once the last bit of rock was cleared, the tunnel they had made was inundated with a soothing green glow.<p>

The Earth King looked out at the crystal city in awe. "It's beautiful," he commented.

"Well, I wouldn't know about _that_," Toph noted, "But the design and architecture of the place looks pretty cool."

"Y-yeah, it's great…" Aang halfheartedly agreed.

"What's wrong, Twinkletoes?"

"Nothing…" Toph gave Aang a suspicious look and the airbender sighed. "It's just… I've got some bad memories about this place."

"What do you mean?" the Earth King asked.

"This is where Azula shot me with lightning and almost killed me," Aang explained, "It's no big deal, it just kind of gives me the creeps being back here."

"Oh, so this is where that happened," Toph noted.

"You didn't know?" Aang asked in return.

"Katara didn't like talking about what happened much, so it never came up."

They started down toward the hidden city below the city and looked around at the old architecture as they made their way to just below the royal palace. The Earth King seemed particularly interested in the location as they walked. "It's a shame all of this beauty goes unnoticed. I should start a project to restore this forgotten piece of our history and open it to the public."

"Well, we've got to get you back in control of the Earth Kingdom first, you know," Toph mentioned.

"Right!" the Earth King agreed, stronger than any time he had before.

Aang shuddered as they passed an area with a small river flowing through it fed by an equally small waterfall. The area was littered with rubble and craters from a fierce battle. "I wish you luck, your majesty. But personally, I'll just be happy when we get out of here." Just as they were about to leave the chamber, four Dai Lee agents dropped down from somewhere above and blocked the exit leading to under the palace. Aang and the Earth King turned around only to see more Dai Lee agents drop down to surround them. Aang audibly groaned as the sides prepared for battle, "It's official, I hate this place."

Things were only going slightly better above ground. The city was indeed protesting in front of the palace, but as of yet it had only been a shouting match. Katara, Sokka, and Suki had arrived as the palace guards and the protesters were just about to come to blows. The arrival of the three prevented a fight from breaking out right at that moment, but they could barely be heard over the shouting of the crowd. The only thing that was keeping them from coming to blows was the small group of teenagers standing right in the line of fire.

Things looked bad but stable for a while. It was hard, nigh impossible, to hear anything anyone was saying, but at least it was only words being thrown around. It was hard to keep track of how long it stayed like that. With everything at stake and all the tension, no one bothered to pay attention to where the sun was, but eventually something would have to happen. Unfortunately what changed was the arrival of the Dai Lee. They popped up on the walls around the royal palace and demanded the crowd disperse. The shouting got even louder and angrier at the sight of the city's secret police. Since the end of the war, everyone had learned about the brainwashing and blackmail (among other things) that the Dai Lee had done to take and maintain their power over the city.

Rocks started being sent toward the hated Dai Lee, some throw, some earthbended. Nothing that would cause too much harm, but the Dai Lee took it as an act of sedition. Using their own earthbending, they closed the gates to the palace, locking out the bulk of the protesters and locking in the most vitriolic ones. They then ordered the soldiers guarding the palace itself to arrest everyone on the square. Being the closest, the soldiers moved toward Katara, Sokka, and Suki.

"What do we do now?" Suki asked as the three backed up toward the crowd. Unfortunately, most of the crowd was advancing, ready to meet the soldiers head on.

"I hate to say it, but I think we have to fight them," Sokka said.

"Aang's not going to like that," Suki noted as they ran out of room.

"I don't like it either," Katara added.

"And you think I do?!" Sokka snapped back, "We don't have a choice! We can't let the Dai Lee get their hands on us or anyone else. And it's not like we don't know who the bad guys are."

The royal guards didn't leave much choice for anybody as they began earthbending rocks out of the ground to beat the protesters into submission. The response by the protesters was to flood forward. They outnumbered the guards at least fifty to one, and they pushed the better trained and equipped soldiers back toward the palace door.

Underground, Aang and Toph were handling the Dai Lee as best as they could. The individual members were no threat at all to the Avatar and the self-proclaimed greatest earthbender in the world, but the sheer numbers of them combined with their well-honed, if inferior, skills made the fight a challenge. They also had to protect the Earth King, and it was pretty clear that he was their primary target.

"Dai Lee, please stand down!" the Earth King called to them, "I'm the real Earth King! You should be on my side and help to restore peace and balance to the Earth Kingdom!"

"They don't care about that," Toph said as she knocked yet another Dai Lee agent away with a boulder, "All they care about is their own power."

"We're going to have to break through them!" Aang said as he two brushed aside another agent.

Toph smiled as she prepared herself for a showy display, "Now you're speaking my language!" She created a giant wave of stone around the three of them and blasted it outward. Most of the Dai Lee agents were sent flying away. Only a few managed to get into the air above the attack and Toph's vision, but Aang took care of them with his airbending. With the Dai Lee out of the way, Aang, Toph, and the Earth King rushed down the corridor that led closest to under the throne room. With Toph's ability to see so far through solid stone, they made their way straight up through the ground and popped up right in front of the throne. But there was a problem.

"There's no one here!"

* * *

><p>Yeah, par for the course as far as it goes. I'm actually happy with this, that said, but I'm still putting this on hold until I finish off Dragon Knight, Fire, and Alternate Gundam. They're just better stories and it'd be better if I devote more time to them and do this when I don't have those on my mind. I'll finish this story, though, don't you worry all none of you that read this. I'll get back around to this, it'll just take a while.<p> 


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